thinglikeadj.
/ˈθɪŋlʌɪk/, U.S. /ˈθɪŋˌlaɪk/ Resembling or characteristic of a thing; esp. resembling a material or impersonal thing.
ΚΠ
1803 S. T. Coleridge Let. 14 Aug. (1956) II. 975 The not having the Book to refer to, tho' I have the most thing-like Recollections of it's contents.
1862 F. W. Faber Hymns (new ed.) cxxviii. 356 Is there glory in his strife? Is there meaning in his life? Can God hold such a thing-like person dear?
1942 Philos. Rev. 51 451 It [sc. the word ‘does’] marks a motion, not a static relation between thing and notion or between two notions one of which is of a thinglike character.
1997 C. Ozick Puttermesser Papers (1998) 41 The more vitality the creature gained, the more thing-like she seemed.
Derivatives
ˈthinglikeness n.
ΚΠ
1895 F. Pollock & F. W. Maitland Hist. Eng. Law II. ii. iv. §6. 133 Annuities..in course of time..assumed the guise of merely contractual rights; but in the earlier Year Books their thinglikeness is visible.
2000 J. R. Lucas Conceptual Roots Math. xv. 400 The word ‘real’..comes from the mediaeval Latin realis, itself derived from res, a thing, and still carries many connotations of thinglikeness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1803