Solidifications

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of transforming a substance into a hard or solid state through cooling or crystallization
2. The act of making something more definite, firm, or substantial, often in a physical or metaphorical sense
3. The state of having become solid, often referring to changes in materials during phases of matter conversion

Etymology: "Solidifications" is the plural of "solidification," a noun for processes of hardening, and it is formed from "solid" plus the suffix "-ification." That suffix comes from Latin "-ificatio," a noun ending built from "-ficare," meaning "to make," so the core idea is "making solid." The base word "solid" itself goes back to Latin "solidus," meaning firm or compact, which English took in through Old French and Middle English. The noun "solidification" may have reached English by way of French "solidification," which is a likely route given that the French form closely matches the English one. Either way, the word follows a common pattern in English: a native or borrowed adjective is turned into an action noun by adding a Latinate suffix, so "beautify" becomes "beautification" and "simplify" becomes "simplification." The plural form simply reflects that the word can refer to several separate hardening processes, such as those in cooling metals, setting concrete, or the stiffening of a substance over time.

Synonyms: concretions, solid states