body forth
C1 formal inseparable transitive
In simple words
To make an idea or feeling into something you can almost see or touch.
Literal meaning: To bring a body (physical form) forward into existence.
Meanings
1 C1
idiomatic
formal
To represent or give a concrete, visible form to something that is abstract or imaginary.
"The sculptor sought to body forth the grief of an entire nation in a single figure."
"And as imagination bodies forth / The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen / Turns them to shapes."
— William Shakespeare, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Act 5, Scene 1 (c. 1595)
Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes
Strongly literary and archaic; best known from Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Rarely if ever used in spoken English today. ESL learners are most likely to encounter it in literary criticism or poetry.
Commonly used with
imagination form idea vision truth spirit
Forms
Base
body forth
I/you/we/they
3rd person
bodies forth
he/she/it
Past simple
bodied forth
yesterday
Past participle
bodied forth
have + pp
-ing form
bodying forth
continuous
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Synonyms
embody give form to represent manifest personify bring to life
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