ossify

English

WOTD – 1 September 2008

Etymology

Back-formation from ossification, or modeled on French ossifier and formed from Latin os, ossis (“bone”) +‎ -ify.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɒs.ɪ.faɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑ.sə.faɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ

Verb

ossify (third-person singular simple present ossifies, present participle ossifying, simple past and past participle ossified)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To transform (or cause to transform) from a softer animal substance into bone; particularly the processes of growth in humans and animals.

   Antonym: deossify

   Coordinate term: chondrify

   • 1884, Arthur C. Cole, Studies in Microscopical Science‎, page 35:

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

2. (transitive, intransitive, animate) To become (or cause to become) inflexible and rigid in habits or opinions.

   Synonym: harden

   • 1996, Peter Schwartz, The Art of the Long View, →ISBN, page 96:

     Before long, the entire organization ossifies.

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

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

3. (transitive, intransitive, inanimate) To grow (or cause to grow) formulaic and permanent.
   • 1886, Samuel Moore, “Chapter 14”, in Capital, volume I, translation of original by Karl Marx:

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

   • 2001, Kevin O'Neill, David Suchoff, The Wisdom of Love, translation of original by Alain Finkielkraut, →ISBN, page 55:

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

   • 2005 December 20, Michelle Goldberg, “The war on 'Munich'”, in Salon.com‎, archived from the original on 6 March 2008:

     [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, “Chapter X”, in Health and Beauty:

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

Related terms

• ossification (noun)
• ossifier

 

Translations

to transform into bone

Bulgarian: вкостенявам се (vkostenjavam se) Catalan: ossificar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 骨化 (zh) (gǔhuà) Dutch: verbenen (nl) Esperanto: ostiĝi Finnish: luutua (fi) (intransitive), luuduttaa (transitive) French: ossifier (fr) Ido: (please verify) ostigar (io) Polish: kostnieć Romanian: osifica (ro) Russian: костенеть (ru) (kostenetʹ), превраща́ть в кость (prevraščátʹ v kostʹ), превраща́ться в кость (prevraščátʹsja v kostʹ) Spanish: osificar (es) Turkish: kemikleşmek (tr) Ukrainian: костеніти (kostenity), перетворюватися на кістку (peretvorjuvatysja na kistku), перетворювати на кістку (peretvorjuvaty na kistku)

to become inflexible in habits or opinions

Finnish: luutua (fi) (intransitive), luuduttaa (transitive) Russian: черстветь (ru) (čerstvetʹ), грубеть (ru) (grubetʹ); ожесточать (ru) (ožestočatʹ), де́лать бесчувственным (délatʹ besčuvstvennym) Ukrainian: черствіти (čerstvity), ставати консервативним (stavaty konservatyvnym)

to grow formulaic and permanent

Finnish: vakiintua (fi) (intransitive), vakiinnuttaa (fi) (transitive) Ukrainian: закріплятися (zakripljatysja)

to calcify — see calcify

See also

• calcify

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “ossify”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• Foisys