petrify

Definition

To turn to stone: to harden organic matter by permeating with water and depositing dissolved minerals.

Etymology

From Middle French pétrifier, from Medieval Latin petrificāre, from Latin petra (“rock”), from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra, “rock”) + -ficāre, from facere (“do, make”), equivalent to petro- + -ify.

Example Sentences

• "a river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves"
• "Like Niobe we marble grow, / And petrify with grief."
• "Hopes, feelings, and passion, petrify one after another; the crust of experience soon hardens over the hidden past; and who, looking on the levelled and subdued exterior, could dream of the wreck and ravage that lies below?"

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