reifies

Reifies is the third-person singular present tense of the verb reify. Reify means to make something abstract more concrete or to represent an idea as a concrete thing. It is used in philosophy, social theory, linguistics, and computing. The noun form is reification; adjective reified; gerund reifying.

From Medieval Latin reificare, from Latin re- “again” + facere “to make.”

In philosophy and social theory, reification denotes the attribution of concrete, objective properties to social processes or abstract concepts. In Marxist and critical theory, social relations or economic forces can appear as things with independent existence, such as treating the market as a natural, self-contained force rather than a complex set of human interactions.

In linguistics and rhetorical analysis, reification describes turning an abstraction into a noun or tangible object, often via nominalization. This can obscure processual or relational aspects by focusing attention on a thing rather than its origin or dynamics.

In computer science, reification is the process of turning an abstract concept, such as a relation or a property, into a first-class object that can be passed, stored, or reasoned about. Reification is common in areas such as reflection, data modeling, and RDF, where statements about statements or concepts are represented as data objects for manipulation or analysis.