The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Petrous \Pe"trous\, a. [L. petrosus, fr. petra a stone.] 1. Like stone; hard; stony; rocky; as, the petrous part of the temporal bone. --Hooper. [1913 Webster] 2. (Anat.) Same as Petrosal. [1913 Webster]WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
petrous adj 1: (of bone especially the temporal bone) resembling stone in hardness [syn: petrous, stonelike]