adjective hardened like or into bone.
Origin of ossified First recorded in
1790–1800; ossify +
-ed2 Related forms un·os·si·fied , adjective verb (used with object), os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing. to convert into or cause to harden like bone.
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verb (used without object), os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing. to become bone or harden like bone.
to become rigid or inflexible in habits, attitudes, opinions, etc.: a young man who began to ossify right after college.
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Origin of ossify 1705–15; <
Latin ossi- (stem of
os ) bone +
-fy Related forms os·si·fi·er , noun un·os·si·fy·ing , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for ossified Contemporary Examples of ossified Who would you think more likely to reform an ossified economic system?
Although it makes no sense, this simplistic line has been repeated ad nauseam until it has ossified into accepted fact.
She only wrote two novels, but they establish her as the chronicler of an ossified generation unable to move forward in life.
Historical Examples of ossified The joints are less supple; the arteries are more or less "ossified ."
The vertebræ were not ossified , for no trace of them has been found.
It is not necessary to be a contortionist, nor will it answer to be an ossified freak.
The notochord is restricted and replaced by ossified vertebræ.
The mandible has a distinct splenial, and the articular is ossified .
British Dictionary definitions for ossified adjective converted into bone
having become set and inflexible
Irish slang intoxicated; drunk
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verb -fies , -fying or -fied to convert or be converted into bone
(intr) (of habits, attitudes, etc) to become inflexible
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Derived Forms ossifier , noun Word Origin for ossify C18: from French ossifier, from Latin os bone + facere to make
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ossified v. 1713, "to turn into bone," a back-formation from ossification , or else modeled on French ossifier (18c.) and formed from Latin os (genitive ossis ) "bone" (see osseous ) + -fy . Figurative sense is from 1858. Related: Ossified ; ossifying .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
