What does lapidification mean?
Lapidification is the process by which a material becomes stone, a stone-like substance, or a mineralized mass. It can occur naturally, as when mineral-bearing water fills the spaces in wood or other organic material and preserves it as a fossil, or through deliberate treatment intended to produce stone-like properties. In geology and palaeontology, the term is related to petrification, although lapidification can also apply more broadly to non-organic substances. The word is uncommon in everyday speech and is most likely to appear in specialist writing about rocks, minerals, fossils, conservation, and material science. Its Latin ancestry is transparent: lapis means “stone,” while the element -fication denotes a process of making or causing something to become. Although unfamiliar, lapidification is a precise and evocative term for the transformation of a material into a stony form.
nounThe process of converting a material into stone or a stone-like mineral substance. It may describe natural petrification or a process in which a substance is treated or transformed to acquire stone-like properties.
- The conversion of a material into stone or a stone-like mineral substance.
"The gradual lapidification of the porous material produced a hard, mineral-like surface."
"Lapidification of the specimen occurred as mineral-rich water gradually filled its pores."
"The coating process was intended to imitate the appearance of natural lapidification."
The plural is grammatically possible but rarely needed because the word is usually used in the singular as a name for a process.
"The study compared several natural lapidifications of plant material."
From the Latin word for stone comes a term for turning ordinary material into something rock-hard.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lapidification come from?
Lapidification was formed within Latin using lapis, meaning “stone,” together with elements meaning “to make” and “the process of becoming.” The English word developed as a technical term for conversion into stone or a stone-like substance. Its relatives include lapidary, concerning stones and their cutting, and lapideous, meaning stony or composed of stone.
How lapidification is actually used
A specialized term used chiefly in geology, mineralogy, palaeontology, and discussions of material transformation. In biological contexts, it can describe the fossilizing of remains as stone, but “petrification” is often more familiar.