- personification, as of inanimate things.
- a figure of speech in which an imaginary, absent, or deceased person is represented as speaking or acting.
Origin of prosopopoeia
- rhetoric another word for personification
- a figure of speech that represents an imaginary, absent, or dead person speaking or acting
Word Origin and History for prosopopeia
also prosopopoeia, 1560s, from Latin prosopopoeia, from Greek prosopopoiia "the putting of speeches into the mouths of others," from prosopon "person, face" (literally "that which is toward the eyes," from pros "to" + ops "eye, face;" see eye (n.)) + poiein "make" (see poet). Generally, a rhetorical figure in which an imaginary or absent person is made to speak or act.