Prosopopoeia

Prosopopeia is a noun that refers to a figure of speech in which an abstract thing is personified. Our word of the the day comes directly from the Greek words for ‘person’ and ‘make.’ It may refer to the personification of an abstract idea or a figure of speech in which an imagined or absent person or thing is represented as speaking. Here’s an example of the former. My new novel features a character, Iris, that represents innocence. You could say I was engaging in a bit of prosopopeia.