Webster's 1913 Dictionary
PROSOPOPOEIA
Pros `o *po *poe "ia, n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr. (Rhet.)
Defn: A figure by which things are represented as persons, or by which things inanimate are spoken of as animated beings; also, a figure by which an absent person is introduced as speaking, or a deceased person is represented as alive and present. It includes personification, but is more extensive in its signification.
New American Oxford Dictionary
prosopopoeia
pro so po poe ia |prəˌsōpəˈpēə, ˌpräsə -prəˌsoʊpəˈpiə | ▶noun 1 a figure of speech in which an abstract thing is personified. 2 a figure of speech in which an imagined or absent person or thing is represented as speaking. ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: via Latin from Greek prosōpopoiia, from prosōpon ‘person ’ + poiein ‘to make. ’
Oxford Dictionary
prosopopoeia
prosopopoeia |ˌprɒsəpəˈpiːə | ▶noun [ mass noun ] 1 a figure of speech in which an abstract thing is personified. 2 a figure of speech in which an imagined, absent, or dead person or thing is represented as speaking. ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: via Latin from Greek prosōpopoiia, from prosōpon ‘person ’ + poiein ‘to make ’.
The Wordsmith Dictionary