An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. The attribution of human nature or character to animals, 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 (Dictionary.com).

See also: Verbal noun of → personify.