Reification

Pronunciation

• enPR: rāəfÉ™kāshÉ™n, IPA: /ˌɹeɪəfəˈkeɪʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Origin

First attested around 1846; a macaronic calque of German Verdinglichung, using -ification ("making") for ver- + -lich + -ung, and Latin res ("thing") for Ding ("thing")

Full definition of reification

Noun

1. The consideration of an abstract thing as if it were concrete, or of an inanimate object as if it were living.
2. The consideration of a human being as an impersonal object.
3. (programming) Process that makes out of a non-computable/addressable object a computable/addressable one.

Synonyms

• objectification
• thingification

Derived terms

• reify