exemplify
/ɪɡˈzɛmplɪfʌɪ
/ /ɛɡˈzɛmplɪfʌɪ/verb (exemplifies, exemplifying, exemplified) [with object]
1Be a typical example of: the best dry sherry is exemplified by the fino of Jerez...
- Our industry is one steeped in parts and details, and the current crop of specifications exemplifies such.
- The special award, presented posthumously, exemplifies the spirit of Muskingum College.
- It's a great Australian and human story exemplifying the antithesis of current Coalition values.
Synonyms
typify, epitomize, be a typical example of, serve as a typical example of, represent, be representative of, symbolize;
personify, embody, be the embodiment of;
demonstrate, show
2Illustrate or clarify by giving an example: he exemplified his point with an anecdote...
- This poignant illustration of devastated motherhood exemplifies the problematics of literalizing Beloved on screen.
- This study illustrates that particular patterns and behaviors exemplifying the relationship work of generative fathering can be found in narrative accounts told by fathers of their experiences connecting with children.
- Certainly a better, more timely illustration than one from 1873 could have been chosen to exemplify the primacy and precedence of Sloan's subject matter in American visual culture.
Synonyms
illustrate, give an example of, give an instance of, demonstrate, instance
rare instantiate
Derivatives
exemplification
/ /ɛɡzɛmplɪfɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n / noun ...- In a world of six billion mortal souls, we are never far away from a flesh-and-blood exemplification of life's one great certainty.
- Well, we're all exemplifications of the principle that people have children.
- And those Classical artistic compositions' principles are the exemplification of the methods of political thinking of a people, which are necessary for a good society.
Origin
Late Middle English: from medieval Latin exemplificare, from Latin exemplum 'sample' (see example).