silicify

American  

[suh-lis-uh-fahy] / səˈlɪs əˌfaɪ /

verb (used with or without object)

silicified, silicifying

1. to convert or be converted into silica.

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silicify British  

/ sɪˈlɪsɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to convert or be converted into silica

   silicified wood

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Other Word Forms

• silicification
  noun
• unsilicified
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of silicify

First recorded in 1820–30; silic(a) + -ify

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

silicify silicified

This material, as is well known, is very liable to disintegrate, and the remedy is to silicify it.

From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 426 Volume 17, New Series, February 28, 1852 by William Chambers

Organic remains have sometimes suffered a singular transformation, as for 176 example, where shells, corals, and wood are silicified, their calcareous or ligneous matter having been replaced by nearly pure silica.

From Principles of Geology or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell

Shells may become completely silicified, or may have their cavities occupied by flint with every detail of the interior of the shell preserved in the outer surface of the cast.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

Spicules of sponges and fragments of other organisms, such as molluscs, polyzoa, foraminifera and brachiopods, often occur in flint, and may be partly or wholly silicified with retention of their original structure.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

Great prostrate silicified trunks of trees, embedded in a conglomerate, were extraordinarily numerous.

From The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin

Darwin found silicified trees on the same slope of the Andes as the Uspallata Pass.

From The Andes and the Amazon Across the Continent of South America by James Orton

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