Philosophy & ThoughtGreek → English
Anthropomorphism
/ˌænθrəpəˈmɔːrfɪzəm/noun
The attribution of human form, feeling or motive to gods, animals or things.
The Greek roots
ἄνθρωπος
ánthrōpos
human being
μορφή
morphḗ
form, shape
-ισμός
-ismós
practice, doctrine
Literally: “the practice of human-shaping”
The story of the word
Xenophanes made the argument in the sixth century BC: people give the gods their own faces, Thracians blue-eyed and red-haired ones, Ethiopians dark ones, and if cattle and horses could draw they would draw gods like cattle and horses. The word for what he was describing took another twenty-three centuries, arriving in English in the 1700s in theological argument. Ethologists now use it as a professional accusation, and are steadily less sure where the line falls.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Modern Latin → English
- First recorded
- 18th century
Same family
anthropologymorphologyamorphousphilanthropymetamorphosis
In a sentence
The documentary's anthropomorphism is heavy, giving each meerkat a name and a grudge.