PETRIFACTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does petrifaction mean? 

• PETRIFACTION (noun)
  The noun PETRIFACTION has 2 senses:

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

2. a rock created by petrifaction; an organic object infiltrated with mineral matter and preserved in its original form

  Familiarity information: PETRIFACTION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PETRIFACTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

petrifaction; petrification

Hypernyms ("petrifaction" is a kind of...):

fossilisation; fossilization (the process of fossilizing a plant or animal that existed in some earlier age; the process of being turned to stone)

Derivation:

petrify (change into stone)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A rock created by petrifaction; an organic object infiltrated with mineral matter and preserved in its original form

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("petrifaction" is a kind of...):

rock; stone (a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter)

Derivation:

petrify (change into stone)

 Context examples 

Yet all three animals were keyed to a tenseness of living that was almost painful, and scarcely ever would it come to them to be more alive than they were then in their seeming petrifaction.

(White Fang, by Jack London)