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Glite Dictionary
to lapidify

to lapidify

9.9
To change into stone
  • verb
  • /ləˈpɪdəˌfaɪ/
  • Archaic
translation icon : lapidificar
  • The intense heat from the lava can lapidify the surrounding rock into solid stone.

Examples

  • In some regions, the high pressure can cause organic matter to lapidify, forming fossilized remains.

  • The ancient process of burial in mineral-rich areas can gradually lapidify bones over thousands of years.

  • Noisome vapors from smoldering waste compel the animus to withdraw, alleviating symptoms because phlogiston lapidifies the brain.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

to turn to stone
vsto lapidify
  • Literature
10 7.7

Become completely still and look like stone when frightened

refers to actual conversion into stone rather than just becoming immobile
to petrify
vsto lapidify
  • Specialized
1 7.4

To change something into stone over a long time

is the general term for changing into stone beyond only organic matter
to lithify
vsto lapidify
  • Specialized
9.8

To turn into solid rock over time

is used for changing into stone in a wider nongeological sense

How Petrified

to lapidify
  • Archaic
9.9
to calcify
  • Specialized
3 7.4
to harden
27 2.6
to solidify
55 4.4

Surface Forms

lapidify infinitive
lapidified past
lapidified past participle
lapidifying present participle
lapidifies third person singular

Morphology

lapidify = lapidary (semi-transparent) = lapid + ify

The productive suffix '-ify' meaning 'make' is clear, but the root 'lapid-' (stone) is an uncommon combining form in English; speakers who know 'lapidary' may infer the meaning, while many learners will not.

Etymology

The word lapidify comes from the Latin lapis 'stone' and the ending -fy 'make', as in simplify. So to lapidify is to 'make into stone', like when something slowly becomes a statue or turns to rock.