different between embody vs perform

English

Etymology

em- +? body

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?b?di/
• Rhymes: -?di

Verb

embody (third-person singular simple present embodies, present participle embodying, simple past and past participle embodied)

1. (transitive) To represent in a physical or concrete form; to incarnate or personify.

   As the car salesman approached, wearing a plaid suit and slicked-back hair, he seemed to embody sleaze.

   • The soul, while it is embodied, can no more be divided from sin.
2. (transitive) To represent in some other form, such as a code of laws.

   The US Constitution aimed to embody the ideals of diverse groups of people, from Puritans to Deists.

   The principle was recognized by some of the early Greek philosophers who embodied it in their systems.

3. (transitive) To comprise or include as part of a cohesive whole; to be made up of.
   • 1962, Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office (page 1261)

     For use in a nursery for cradling a baby to sleep, a baby cradler comprising, in combination, a stand embodying a mobile base, uprights attached to and rising perpendicularly from the base and having axially aligned bearings, [...]

4. (intransitive) To unite in a body or mass.

Synonyms

• (represent in physical form): actualize, concretize, effigiate, materialize, objectify, realize, reify, thingify
• (include or represent): embrace, encompass, enfold
• (unite in a body or mass): fuse, integrate, merge; see also Thesaurus:coalesce

Derived terms

• disembody
• embodiment

Translations

Anagrams

• boydem

English

Etymology

From Middle English performen, parfournen (“to perform”), from Anglo-Norman performer, parfourmer, alteration of Old French parfornir, parfurnir (“to complete, accomplish, perform”), from par- + fornir, furnir (“to accomplish, furnish”), from Frankish *frumjan (“to accomplish, furnish”), from Proto-Germanic *frumjan?, *framjan? (“to further, promote”), from Proto-Indo-European *promo- (“in front, forth”), *per- (“forward, out”). Cognate with Old High German frummen (“to do, execute, accomplish, provide”), Old Saxon frummian (“to perform, promote”), Old English fremman (“to perform, execute, carry out, accomplish”), Gothic ???????????????????????????? (frumjan, “to promote, accomplish”). See also frame, from.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p??f??m/, enPR: p?r-fôrm?
• (General American) IPA^(key): /p??f??m/, enPR: p?r-fôrm?
• Rhymes: -??(?)m
• Hyphenation: per?form

Verb

perform (third-person singular simple present performs, present participle performing, simple past and past participle performed)

1. (transitive) To do (something); to execute.
2. (intransitive) To exhibit an expected pattern of behavior; to function; to work.

3. (law) To act in a way set forth in a contract.
   1. (transitive) To act in accordance with (a contract); to fulfill one’s terms of (a contract).

   2. (intransitive) To fulfill contractually agreed-to terms.

4. (transitive, intransitive) To do (something) in front of an audience, such as acting or music, often in order to entertain.
5. (by extension, transitive) To behave theatrically so as to give the impression of (a quality, character trait, etc.); to feign.
6. (social sciences) Of a social actor, to behave in certain ways.
   1. (transitive) To behave in accordance with, and thereby in turn shape, (a social notion or role).

   2. (intransitive) To behave in ways that carry meaning in social contexts.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• perform in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• perform in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• perform at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• preform