reification.

Treating an abstract idea or relationship as a concrete, independently existing thing.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• reification of a category
• social reification

On the page

The critique warns against the reification of an analytical category.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, explanation, evaluation. Commonness: uncommon.