solidification

American  

[suh-lid-uh-fi-key-shuhn] / səˌlɪd ə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of becoming a hard or compact mass, or of changing from a liquid or gaseous state to a solid state.

   Magma and lava undergo solidification under different conditions, and, as a result, form rocks with different characteristics.

2. the act or process of unifying or coming together.

   There has been some consolidation and solidification in political parties at the national level, but participation in regional level politics has been in decline.

3. the act or process of becoming significant, substantial, or real.

   The orchestra's solidification as an American institution took place in the late 1930s under the direction of Maestro Otto Klemperer.

   It is scientifically documented that the solidification of false memories is very much impacted by repetition.

4. the act or process of encapsulating hazardous waste within a solid substance in order to prevent leaching or contamination of surrounding materials.

   The most frequently used waste-disposal technologies are incineration, solidification and stabilization, and pump-and-treat technologies for groundwater.

---

Other Word Forms

• nonsolidification noun
• oversolidification noun
• resolidification noun

Etymology

Origin of solidification

First recorded in 1780–90; from French, equivalent to solid ( def. ) + -i- ( def. ) + -fication ( def. )

Example Sentences

Crustal solidification: The process by which Earth's once-molten surface cooled and hardened into a solid crust.

From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2025

It marks a solidification of Ware’s second phase, following her early years making restrained club-soul and adult-contemporary R&B.

From New York Times • May 17, 2023

The most important long-term impact of the Chagatai Khanate was its solidification of Islam’s hold over western central Asia.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

But solidification is an act of chemistry — something Charles must preserve on her new team.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 28, 2022

I hear it before I see it; blended with the twilight, it appears out of its own sound like a solidification, a clotting of the night.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood