calcification

American  

[kal-suh-fi-kay-shuhn] / ˌkæl sə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

• calcifications
  plural

1. a changing into lime.

2. Physiology. the deposition of lime or insoluble salts of calcium and magnesium, as in a tissue.

3. Anatomy, Geology. a calcified formation.

4. a soil process in which the surface soil is supplied with calcium in such a way that the soil colloids are always close to saturation.

5. a hardening or solidifying; rigidity.

   As the conflict developed, there was an increasing calcification of attitudes on both sides.

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calcification British  

/ ˌkælsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. the process of calcifying or becoming calcified

2. pathol a tissue hardened by deposition of lime salts

3. any calcified object or formation

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calcification Scientific  

/ kăl′sə-fĭ-kā′shən /

1. Medicine

   1. The accumulation of calcium or calcium salts in a body tissue. Calcification normally occurs in the formation of bone, but can be deposited abnormally, as in the lungs.

   2. A structure that has undergone calcification.

2. Geology

   1. The replacement of organic material, especially original hard material such as bone, with calcium carbonate during the process of fossilization.

   2. The accumulation of calcium in certain soils, especially soils of cool temperate regions where leaching takes place very slowly.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• calcifications
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of calcification

First recorded in 1840–50; calcific + -ation

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

calcification calcifications

Vascular calcification occurs when calcium builds up in blood vessel walls, making them less flexible and contributing to cardiovascular disease.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

Coronary artery calcification is an important marker of early cardiovascular disease.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026

Mammograms may be used to reveal calcification in breast arteries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

She stated the actual cause of death was narrowing and "calcification of his coronary arteries due to old age".

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2025

It has been shown that dogs fed for a long time on putrefied meat developed inflammation and degeneration of the adventitia and media, with hyperplasia and calcification of the intima of many arteries.

From Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension: with Chapters on Blood Pressure, 3rd Edition. by Louis Marshall Warfield

“One of the reasons why clinicians use this is because there is data that shows when there are coronary calcifications patients are more likely to take medications and to adopt other preventive therapies,” he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026

“No significant masses, calcifications or other findings are seen in either breast.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026

The complete absence of coronary calcifications, on the other hand, is a good indicator of the absence of advanced atherosclerosis.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 5, 2024

Flesh inside the cracked opened shells was examined by clammers who hoped to find roundish, calcifications that had formed over little grains of sand.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 21, 2015

Has she spotted the characteristic calcifications of malignancy?

From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2010

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