petrification

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun the process of turning some plant material into stone by infiltration with water carrying mineral particles without changing the original shape

From French pétrification, from Middle French pétrifier + -ation.

Over their limbs crept a curious rigidity, an unnatural petrification. — Shadows in the Moonlight, Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard
What’s more, the formation of coal—in other words, the petrification of forests swallowed by floods—and the cooling of basaltic rocks likewise call for a much longer period of time. — Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World, Jules Verne
The crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there; and such a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney, as that dull petrification of a hearth had never known in Scrooge's time, or Marley's, or for many and many a winter season gone. — A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, Charles Dickens

petrifaction

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