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

Etymology

Origin of calcification

First recorded in 1840–50; calcific + -ation

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

calcification calcifications

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

From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026

A recent study found that people exposed to more unfavorable neighborhood social conditions when they were young adults had a greater likelihood of developing coronary artery calcification by midlife.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026

A scan with significant calcification helps doctors and patients make a decision about whether they need to take a statin or other cholesterol-lowering medication.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 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

When these tubercles are sufficiently numerous to become confluent, large masses may be formed, which undergo the same retrogressive changes of caseation and calcification.

From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry

“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

My gynecologist calls: the mass is solid and has calcifications.

From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2010