FIGURE OF SPEECH - Personification

per·son·i·fi·ca·tion - [per-son-uh-fi-key-shuhn]

noun
1. The attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.
2. The representation of a thing or abstraction in the form of a person, as in art.
3. The person or thing embodying a quality or the like; an embodiment or incarnation: He is the personification of tact.
4. An imaginary person or creature conceived or figured to represent a thing or abstraction.
5. The act of personifying.

World English Dictionary
personification (pɜːˌsɒnɪfɪˈkeɪʃən)
1. The attribution of human characteristics to things, abstract ideas, etc, as for literary or artistic effect
2. The representation of an abstract quality or idea in the form of a person, creature, etc, as in art and literature
3. A person or thing that personifies
4. A person or thing regarded as an embodiment of a quality: he is the personification of optimism

Origin:
1745–55; personi(fy) + -fication
Related forms
per·son·i·fi·ca·tor, noun
non·per·son·i·fi·ca·tion, noun

Example Sentences:
"Giving a wild animal in a story a human name is an example of personification."
"We take breathing as a right, and countless millions of people look to athletes as the personification of human fitness."
"Lighthouse literature offers opportunities to teach literary terms, especially personification, metaphor and simile."

Word Origin & History:
personification
1755, noun of action from personify. Sense of "embodiment of a quality in a person" is attested from 1807.