the attributing of human shape or characteristics to a god, animal, or inanimate thing
Anthropomorphism of a mailbox.
The definition of anthropomorphism is the act of giving the characteristics of humans to an animal, a god or an inanimate thing.
An example of anthropomorphism is the creation of Mickey Mouse who is given the ability to sing and dance though mice do not possess that capability.
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"anthropomorphism." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 24 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Anthropomorphism>.
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anthropomorphism. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Anthropomorphism
anthropomorphism
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"anthropomorphism." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 24 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Anthropomorphism>.
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anthropomorphism. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Anthropomorphism
anthropomorphism
noun
Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena.
Related Forms:
- an′thro·po·mor′phic
adjective
- an′thro·po·mor′phi·cal·ly
adverb
- an′thro·po·mor′phist
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"anthropomorphism." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 24 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Anthropomorphism>.
APA Style
anthropomorphism. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Anthropomorphism
Noun
(plural anthropomorphisms)
- The attribution of human characteristics or behavior to that which isn't human. [from the mid-18th c.]
- (theology) the attribution of human characteristics to divine beings
Usage notes
This term carries very different connotations when used in different contexts. In literature, anthropomorphism describes merely a device of fiction writing, whereas in science (particularly biology) anthropomorphism has traditionally been used pejoratively when a scientist appears to be attributing to animals characteristics that are assumed to be exclusive to human beings.
Origin
Coined in the mid-1700s. From Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos, “man, human being”) + -morphism
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"anthropomorphism." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 24 June 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Anthropomorphism>.
APA Style
anthropomorphism. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Anthropomorphism
Sentence Examples
- An anthropomorphism which is specifically a " magomorphism " renders the sacred powers increasingly one with the governing element in society, and religion assumes an ethicopolitical character, whilst correspondingly authority and law are invested with a deeper meaning.
- Such anthropomorphism is with difficulty reduced to the Tylorian animism.
- The word anthropomorphism is a modern coinage (possibly from 18th century French).
- For, though the quarrel with popular anthropomorphism was patched up, and the gods of the Pantheon were described by Stoics and Epicureans as manlike in form, philosophy nevertheless tended to highly abstract conceptions of supreme, or real, deity.
- Mahommed in fact represented a revolt against the anthropomorphism of commonplace Mahommedan orthodoxy, but he was a rigid predestinarian and a strict observer of the law.
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WORDS NEAR anthropomorphism IN THE DICTIONARY
- anthropomorphism
- anthropomorphise
- anthropomorphised
- anthropomorphises