What is the word

[lady_p_gold]

What is the word when you use a human word to describe a non-human thing i.e. a tearful shopping mall (bad example!)

[gary baldy]

Humanise - nothing more complicated than that i'm afraid.

[lady_p_gold]

thanks for that ... but I am sure there is a special word that I used to know and now cannot recall !

[kempie]

Perhaps anthropomorphism

[gary baldy]

Pah! - kempie's is much better than mine!

[mohill]

I have always thought of personification as the figure of speech that attributes human feelings to inanimate (or even animate) objects. It is used for literary effect, which seems closer to the example cited in the question.

I tend to think of anthropomorphism in examples like Greek gods speaking to mortals in human terms or perhaps King Kong portrayed with human feelings or the Brer Rabbit tales.

I should make clear that I write as a layman not as an expert.

[kempie]

also described as pathetic fallacy.

(BTW anthropomorphism can also be applied to inanimate objects).