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petrify

Pronunciation: /ˈpɛ.tɹəˌfaɪ/

The English word “petrify” has 6 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To turn to stone: to harden organic matter by permeating with water and depositing dissolved minerals.
  2. To produce rigidity akin to stone.
  3. To immobilize with fright.
  4. To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
  5. To become stony, callous, or obdurate.
  6. To make callous or obdurate; to stupefy; to paralyze; to transform; as by petrification.

Etymology

From Middle French pétrifier, from Medieval Latin petrificāre, from Latin petra (“rock”), from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra, “rock”) + -ficāre, from facere (“do, make”), equivalent to petro- + -ify.

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