Etymograph

English

reification

Reification comes from Latin rēs ‘thing’, from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís ‘wealth, goods’, and perhaps ultimately from *(H)reh₁- ‘to give, bestow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(H)reh₁-1‘to give, bestow’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*reh₁ís2‘wealth, goods’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*reis2‘thing, matter’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErēs3‘thing’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2002reification3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁ís
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin res
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English reification
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2002, Timothy Bewes, Reification: Or The Anxiety of Late Capitalism: “The reification of art and religion, a symptom of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(H)reh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁ís‘to give, bestow’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*reh₁ísWiktionary, Latin res‘wealth, goods’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*reisWiktionary, Latin res‘thing, matter’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErēsWiktionary, English reification‘thing’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2002reificationWiktionary, English reification. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2002, Timothy Bewes, Reification: Or The Anxiety of Late Capitalism: “The reification of art and religion, a symptom of…”

first attested First attested around 1846; a macaronic calque of German Verdinglichung, using -ification (“making”) for ver- + -lich + -ung, and Latin rēs (“thing”) for Ding (“thing”) (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

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

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *reis ‘thing, matter’

reality, realise, realisation, 16 more

through Latin rēs ‘thing’

real, re, rebus, 19 more

Today it means

noun The consideration of an abstract thing as if it were concrete, or of an inanimate object as if it were living.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “reification”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁ís, Latin res. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁- / reification

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