Other Word Forms
- preembodiment noun
Etymology
Origin of embodiment
Explanation
The embodiment of something gives concrete form to an abstract idea. A flag is the embodiment of a country. When you talk about embodiment, you're talking about giving a form to ideas that are usually not physical: like love, hate, fear, justice, etc. A gavel is the embodiment of justice; a wedding ring can be the embodiment of love. The word body in embodiment is a clue to its meaning: this is a word for giving a body to things that usually don't have one.
Vocabulary lists containing embodiment
The Crucible
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The Awakening
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The Boys in the Boat
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They then tested how different movement speeds influenced embodiment, including body ownership, sense of agency, usability, and social impressions such as competence and discomfort.
From Science Daily • Feb. 13, 2026
“He is quite literally the embodiment of the American Dream.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026
Blair Kinghorn was a surprise exclusion from the 23 but the Toulouse full-back is the embodiment of the gambler's instinct that's magnificent when it works and utterly ruinous when it doesn't.
From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026
Waymo, the largest purveyor of self-driven transport, says on its website that its robotaxis are “the embodiment of fully autonomous technology that is always in control from pickup to destination.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2026
He was a sort of musical embodiment of Ellis Island, with all Europe’s exhausted, oppressed cultures finding refuge and a new start in his symphonic embrace.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
