ˌäsəfə̇ˈkāshən noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably from (assumed) New Latin ossification-, ossificatio, from (assumed) New Latin ossificatus (past participle of ossificare to ossify) + Latin -ion-, -io -ion
1.
a. : the process of bone formation usually beginning at particular centers in each prospective bone and involving the activities of special osteoblasts that segregate and deposit inorganic bone substance about themselves — see endochondral ossification , intermembranous ossification
b. : an instance of this process
2.
a. : the condition of being altered into a hard bony substance
ossification of the muscular tissue
b. : a mass or particle of ossified tissue : a calcareous deposit in the tissues
ossifications in the aortic wall
3.
a. : the process of becoming hardened, indifferent, and insensitive to the feelings of others ; also : a state of callousness
the emotional ossification which the poet must escape — J.M.O'Brien
b. : the process of becoming molded or set in a conventional pattern ; also : a state of unimaginative conformity
continue its present course of ossification into a new dogmatism — Paul Woodring
a way of life that … might remain in a state of cosy ossification until doomsday — Norman Lewis