incarnation
/ˌɪŋ.kɑːˈneɪ.ʃən/
incarnation means the doctrine that the second person of the Trinity assumed human form in the person of Jesus Christ and is fully divine and fully human.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, incarnation ranks #3,299 of 14,438 for Most Storied Words, #7,460 of 14,414 for Most Elegant Words, #7,518 of 14,431 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #7,573 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words.
incarnation is pronounced /ˌɪŋ.kɑːˈneɪ.ʃən/.
Why “incarnation” is a great word
The embodiment of a deity, spirit, or abstract quality in physical form, or a particular version or manifestation of something. From Middle English *incarnacion*, from Old French *incarnacion*, from Medieval Latin *incarnatio*, from Late Latin *incarnari* ("to be made flesh"), from *in-* ("in") + *caro, carnis* ("flesh"), first attested c. 1300. Unlike "embodiment," which suggests a tangible representation of an idea, or "avatar," which often implies a temporary or partial manifestation, incarnation denotes a full and irreversible descent into the mortal condition. It is the infant crying in a manger, the word made muscle and bone; it is the particular grief of a mother recognizing her own childhood in her daughter's stubborn jaw; it is the moment an abstract principle suddenly breathes and bleeds in a single human face. This is the ache of the eternal learning to sweat, divinity irrevocably committed to the limits of bone and breath.
Etymology
From Middle English incarnacion, borrowed from Old French incarnacion, from Medieval Latin, Ecclesiastical Latin incarnatio, from Late Latin incarnari (“to be made flesh”).
name
- The doctrine that the second person of the Trinity assumed human form in the person of Jesus Christ and is fully divine and fully human.
noun
- An incarnate being or form.e.g.“She is a new incarnation of some of the illustrious dead.”
- A version or iteration (of something).
- A living being embodying a deity or spirit.
- An assumption of human form or nature.
- A person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like.e.g.“The leading dancer is the incarnation of grace.”
- The act of incarnating.
- The state of being incarnated.
- A rosy or red colour; flesh (the colour); carnation.
- The process of healing wounds and filling the part with new flesh; granulation.
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