ossification

noun

os·​si·​fi·​ca·​tion ˌä-sə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

1

a

: the natural process of bone formation

b

: the hardening (as of muscular tissue) into a bony substance

2

: a mass or particle of ossified tissue

3

: a tendency toward or state of being molded into a rigid, conventional, sterile, or unimaginative condition

Examples of ossification in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Bitcoin developers are once again debating ossification versus innovation in the protocol. —Korok Ray, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025

The network effect, Bitcoin’s massive security budget, and protocol ossification (its resistance to change) will become too appealing for many developers to ignore. —Nimrod Lehavi, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024

Lee’s work cautions against conceptual ossification. —Pablo Larios, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2024

The Musée d’Orsay, home to the world’s largest collection of Impressionist art, has mounted an exhibition that challenges the mythology of the movement’s origins and the ossification of its aesthetic concerns. —Emily Labarge, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2024

The middle-class high-rise generation is not wrong to fear its salvation from ossification, for a self on the verge of metamorphosis is also on the verge of liquidation. —Becca Rothfeld, The New Yorker, 17 Feb. 2024

As ossification occurs, some baby bones also start smushing together, fusing into single, solid structures. —Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 3 Nov. 2023

She was diagnosed with spinal degeneration with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament, or OPLL. —Eileen Finan, Peoplemag, 23 Sep. 2023

What this analysis overlooks is the extent to which these economic problems are part of a broader process of political ossification and ideological hardening. —Ian Johnson, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1671, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

ossification

noun

os·​si·​fi·​ca·​tion ˌäs-ə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

: the natural process of bone formation

Medical Definition

ossification

noun

os·​si·​fi·​ca·​tion ˌäs-ə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

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 compare calcification sense a

b

: an instance of this process

2

a

: the condition of being altered into a hard bony substance

ossification of soft tissue

b

: a mass or particle of ossified tissue : a calcareous deposit in the tissues

ossifications in the aortic wall

ossificatory

ˈäs-ə-fə-kə-ˌtōr-ē, -ˌtȯr-; especially British ˌäs-ə-fə-ˈkāt-(ə-)rē

adjective