ossify

WOTD - 1 September 2008    

English

Etymology

From [[w:Template:lang:la language|Template:lang:la]][[Category:Template:lang:la derivations]] os, ossis (“‘bone’”) + -ify

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈɒs.ɪ.faɪ/
• (US) IPA: /ˈɑ.sə.faɪ/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -aɪ

Verb

Infinitive to ossify

Third person singular ossif

Simple past ed

Past participle -

Present participle i

to ossify (third-person singular simple present ossif, present participle i, simple past and past participle ed)

1. (ambitransitive) To transform (or cause to transform) from a softer animal substance into bone; particularly the processes of growth in humans and animals.
   • 1884, Arthur C. Cole, Studies in Microscopical Science, p. 35,

     […] , nor do all bones of the same skeleton ossify during the samе period of time.

2. (ambitransitive, ) To become (or cause to become) inflexible and rigid in habits or opinions.
   • 1996, Peter Schwartz, The Art of the Long View , p. 96,

     Before long, the entire organization ossifies.

   • 2006, Michael S. Jones, Metaphysics of Religion: Lucian Blaga and Contemporary Philosophy , p. 79,

     Possession of absolute knowledge would ossify the human spirit, quenching human creativity;

3. (ambitransitive, ) To grow (or cause to grow) formulaic and permanent.
   • 1886, Karl Marx, translated by Samuel Moore, Capital, Volume I, Chapter 14,

     This accidental repartition gets repeated, develops advantages of its own, and gradually ossifies into a systematic division of labour.

   • 2001, Alain Finkielkraut, translated by Kevin O'Neill and David Suchoff, The Wisdom of Love , p. 55,

     Now, in turn, we apply a revolutionary critique that […] ossifies into a rhetoric to become "the monstrous Latin of a monstrous church."

   • 2005, Michelle Goldberg, "The war on 'Munich'", Salon.com, December 20, 2005,

     [T]he charge threatens to ossify into conventional wisdom before the movie's audience can get to theaters to see how misguided it is.

4. (rare) To calcify.
   • 1850, Roxey Ann Caplin, Health and Beauty, Chapter X,

     The cartilages become brittle, and in many instances are ossified; the ligaments are rendered harder, but are less capable of resisting extension.

Synonyms

• (become inflexible and rigid): harden

Related terms

• calcify
• ossification

Translations

to transform into bone

Finnish: luutua fi(fi) (intr.), luuduttaa fi(fi) (tr.)

to become inflexible in habits or opinions

Finnish: luutua fi(fi) (intr.), luuduttaa fi(fi) (tr.)

to grow formulaic and permanent

Finnish: vakiintua fi(fi) (intr.), vakiinnuttaa fi(fi) (tr.)

to calcify

See calcify

Elsewhere on the web

En-En	En-It	En-Fr	En-El	En-Sp	En-Mul	En-De
Onelook	IATE	IATE	IATE	IATE	ProZ	Dict.cc
Wordnik					IATE	Linguee
					Google	IATE