Pyritizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Converts a fossil, shell or other material into iron sulfide by replacing its original substance with the mineral pyrite
2. Turns organic remains or another substance into the mineral iron disulfide through a process of mineral replacement
3. Transforms something by infusing or substituting it with the iron sulfide mineral known as fool's gold

Etymology: Pyritizes is the third-person singular form of "pyritize", so the verb's story is really the story of its two parts. The noun at its base, "pyrite", comes from Greek "pyrites" (from "pyr", fire), meaning a stone that gives off sparks when struck, a sense that explains why the mineral was once prized for lighting fires. Greek "pyrites" passed through Latin "pyrites" and Old French "pyrite" before reaching English. The ending "-ize" came into English through a longer route: it descends from a Greek verbal suffix that Late Latin borrowed as "-izare", then passed through Middle French and Middle English before settling into its modern spelling. English speakers have used it for centuries to turn a noun into a verb meaning "to make into or treat with" the noun's substance. Pyritize therefore means "to convert into pyrite," which is exactly what happens when water-borne iron sulfides gradually replace the tissue of a fossil, leaving a shell or leaf faithfully preserved in shining brass-colored mineral.

Synonyms: sulfidize