Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To regard or treat (an abstraction) as if it had concrete or material existence.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make into a thing; make real or material; consider as a thing.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
regard somethingabstract as if it were aconcrete material thing.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb consider an abstract concept to be real
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I implemented my lazymap library in terms reify where gen-class was required before.
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Factor analysis is harmless as data reduction, but it is tempting to "reify" the factors, to suppose that they are the hidden causes behind the observations.
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A law student might even claim that it does more than reify our sins, but that it alsodispenses justice, if it were not for the fact that not only the greedy now suffer.
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The usual inclination, however, is to reify, sometimes magnify, differences, especially when we consider culture and violence.
Bloodlust Russell Jacoby 2011
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A law student might even claim that it does more than reify our sins, but that it alsodispenses justice, if it were not for the fact that not only the greedy now suffer.
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I have been witness to efforts by some in the Middle East to twist and distort comments made by American policymakers, Israeli leaders, and others in order to reify their fantastic but unreal constructs explaining some international event or accident or decision.
Steve Clemons: Conspiracism American Style: The Daniel Levy Debate Steve Clemons 2010
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It is easy to reify the categories—German and Jew, Hutu and Tutsi, Turk and Armenian, Catholic Irish and Protestant Irish—but difficult to flesh them out.
Bloodlust Russell Jacoby 2011
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It is easy to reify the categories—German and Jew, Hutu and Tutsi, Turk and Armenian, Catholic Irish and Protestant Irish—but difficult to flesh them out.
Bloodlust Russell Jacoby 2011
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The usual inclination, however, is to reify, sometimes magnify, differences, especially when we consider culture and violence.
Bloodlust Russell Jacoby 2011
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No, Obama has thrown down the gauntlet, and is trying to reify the sloganeering of the 1960s.
The Volokh Conspiracy » What’s next for the Obama Administration? 2010
stephanieconn commented on the word reify
wha? oh MAN.....
March 12, 2008
burntsox commented on the word reify
A law professor used this in a lecture today. I didn't know what it meant then, but I'm now fairly sure she wasn't using it correctly.
March 26, 2008
vermontster commented on the word reify
Using or misusing this word is a in-group password in our social sciences grad program. The concept seems important - I still 'intensely dislike' the word.
June 28, 2008
qms commented on the word reify
Something odd is happening here. If you click on the hyperlinked “reify” in Jimmydiamonds comment you go to an entry page for the word that contains only his comment. I thought this was a surprising omission, since reify is a well-established word. If you enter “reify” in the search box you will come to a full entry for the word. What gives?
January 15, 2016
deinonychus commented on the word reify
Looks lika a little space has snuck into the link, making it " reify". I make that mistake a lot when I copy/paste things.
January 15, 2016