ossification

Noun
Synonyms: conformity

WordNet 3.0

Noun (4)

  1. the developmental process of bone formation
  2. the calcification of soft tissue into a bonelike material
  3. the process of becoming rigidly fixed in a conventional pattern of thought or behavior
  4. hardened conventionalitySynonyms: conformity
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Ossification \Os`si*fi*ca"tion\, n. [Cf. F. ossification. See Ossify.]

1.(Physiol.) The formation of bone; the process, in the growth of an animal, by which inorganic material (mainly lime salts) is deposited in cartilage or membrane, forming bony tissue; ostosis. [1913 Webster]

Note: Besides the natural ossification of growing tissue, there is the so-called accidental ossification which sometimes follows certain abnormal conditions, as in the ossification of an artery. [1913 Webster]

2.The state of being changed into a bony substance; also, a mass or point of ossified tissue. [1913 Webster]

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