Ossified

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having transformed into bone or hard bony material ; having become unchangeably fixed in outlook or behavior
2. Describing a process whereby organic tissue turns into bone ; showing a mindset or system that is stubbornly set and resistant to change
3. Converted into a hardened bone-like substance ; exhibiting a rigid, inflexible attitude or structure that resists adaptation

Etymology: The word is the past participle of "ossify", and the verb's core is strikingly literal: it means to turn into bone. Its making is simple: Latin "os" (genitive "ossis") meant "bone", and the suffix "-ify" comes from Latin "-ificare", meaning "to make". Put together, "ossify" means "to make into bone," and its use for hardened habits and attitudes grew out of that picture of something once flexible becoming rigid and fixed. The verb may have been shaped by the noun "ossification," or it may have been modeled on French "ossifier," which was itself formed from the same Latin roots. The exact route is not settled, so the two possibilities are best held side by side rather than choosing one.

Synonyms: hardened, stiffened, calcified, rigid, set

Antonyms: flexible, softened, pliable, malleable, fluid