RDF reification
- 2025-04-05
As the basic unit of description in RDF, a triple states a simple, directed relationship between two resources. Sometimes, we need to describe more detailed circumstances underlying such relationships.
<Bob> <is interested in> <the Mona Lisa> .
<Bob's interest> <is a concretization of> <<( <Bob> <is interested in> <the Mona Lisa> )>> .
<Bob's interest> <is an> <Interest> .
<Bob's interest> <since> <4th of October 1998> .
The second triple is called a reifying triple, and expresses a concretization of the proposition stated by the first triple. The object of a reifying triple is a triple term. It denotes the proposition itself, as a logical, abstract object identified through its constituent subject, predicate, and object components.1