embody

Verb

embody (third-person singular simple present embodies, present participle embodying, simple past and past participle embodied)

1. (transitive) To represent in a physical or concrete form; to incarnate or personify.
   • As the car salesman approached, wearing a plaid suit and slicked-back hair, he seemed to embody sleaze.
   • The soul, while it is embodied, can no more be divided from sin.1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London
2. (transitive) To represent in some other form, such as a code of laws.
   • The US Constitution aimed to embody the ideals of diverse groups of people, from Puritans to Deists.
   • The principle was recognized by some of the early Greek philosophers who embodied it in their systems.
3. (transitive) To comprise or include as part of a cohesive whole; to be made up of.
   • A shunting locomotive embodying an unusual form of power transmission has been developed for the National Coal Board.1958 June, “N.C.B. Electrogyro Locomotive”, in Railway Magazine, page 421
   • With the exception of the Great Eastern Line, these embody the most complete systematisation of steam or diesel-operated main line services that has yet taken place in the country.1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 590
4. (intransitive) To unite in a body or mass.
   • Nay, my good friend—the people will remain / Embodied peaceably, till Parliament / Confirm the royal charter: tell your king so: / We will await the Charter's confirmation, / Meanwhile comporting ourselves orderly / As peaceful citizens, not risen in tumult, / But to redress their evils.1794, Robert Southey, Wat Tyler. A Dramatic Poem. In Three Acts, London: J[ohn] M‘Creery, […] for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], published 1817, →OCLC, Act III, pages 55–56
   • So when inclement winters vex the plain / With piercing frosts, or thick-descending rain, / To warmer seas the cranes embodied fly, / With noise, and order, through the midway sky;1715, Homer, Iliad, translated by Alexander Pope, Book III

   Synonyms:

   fuse