petri-

Petri– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “rock” or “stone.” It is very occasionally used in scientific terms.

Petri– comes from Greek pétra, meaning “rock.” Two Latin translations of pétra are lapis and saxum, both meaning “stone,” which are the roots of terms such as lapis lazuli and saxifrage, respectively. To learn more, check out our entries for both words.

What are variants of petri-?

When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, petri– becomes petr–, as in petrous, from the Latin equivalent of the form. Another variant of petri– is petro–. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles on petr– and petro-.

An example of a word you may have encountered that features petri– is
petrify, “to convert into stone or a stony substance.” Petrify comes from Middle French petrifier, which features the equivalent of the form petri– in that language.

As we know, petri– means “rock,” while the –fy suffix means “to make,” from Latin –ficāre. Petrify literally translates to “to make [into] rock.”

What are some words that use the combining form petri-?

• petrifaction
• petrified

What are some other forms that petri– may be commonly confused with?

• per-
• peri-
• peta-
• pro-

Not every word that begins with the exact letters petri-, such as petri dish, is necessarily using the combining form petri– to denote “rock.” Learn why petri dish means “a glass dish for culturing bacteria” at our entry for the term.

The suffix –faction means “a making.” With this in mind, what does petrifaction literally mean?