All Words > Ossified

illustration Ossified

Ossified

[OS-ih-fied]

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Latin, early 18th century

1.

Transformed into bone

2.

Became rigid in habit or belief

Examples of Ossified in a sentence

"Bone is just cartilage that ossified over time."

"As she aged, she ossified and rejected any attempts to change her habits."

About Ossified

Close, but not exact, "calcified" is a near-synonym of "ossified." Ossification is the complete process of turning soft tissue into bone. Calcification is one of the steps in that process — depositing calcium salts into the tissue. But in the figurative sense of having become resistant to change, ossified and calcified are interchangable.

Did you Know?

The prefix "oss-" is Latin for "bone," and it makes up the root of a few other bony terms. Ossification is the process of converting into bone. "Osseous" is an adjective for anything made of or resembling bone. On the creepier side, an ossuary is a container or building for human bones, commonly used when burial space is scarce.

illustration Ossified

Recent Words

What's the word?