Ossify
/ˈɒs.ɪ.faɪ/noun
To turn into bone; or, more figuratively, to become rigid and fixed.
Did you know?Ossify comes from Latin ossificare, so the modern metaphor of a mind or institution “hardening” is rooted in a word that once meant bone-making.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
ossificare
“to make into bone”
Latin
Latin
os, ossis
“bone”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₃ost-
“bone”
Late Middle English
English
ossifien
“to turn to bone; to harden”
Modern English
English
ossify
“to become hard or rigid; to turn into bone”
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