lapidescence
/ˌlæpɪˈdɛsən(t)s/
lapidescence · noun — the state or quality of being lapidescent. It carries an Arena rating of 1473, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, lapidescence ranks #53 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #1,139 of 17,135 for Most Sublime Words, #1,463 of 17,157 for Most Exacting Words, #2,435 of 17,152 for The Improbable.
lapidescence is pronounced /ˌlæpɪˈdɛsən(t)s/.
Why “lapidescence” is a great word
The process or state of hardening into a stony substance. From Latin lapidēscēns, present participle of lapidēscere ("to become stone"), from lapis, lapid- ("stone") + the English noun-forming suffix -ence. Unlike "petrification," which implies the specific, wondrous transformation of organic life into mineral silence, or "calcification," which denotes a precise biological accumulation of salts, "lapidescence" is the broader, more patient grammar of the inorganic world turning irrevocably into itself. It is the cold, smooth skin of a river-polished pebble, the silent, crystalline advance of minerals binding a crack over centuries, or the concrete of a forgotten foundation settling into the earth—the quiet, indifferent triumph of stone over all that is soft, fluid, or temporary.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Latin lapidēscēns + -ence, on the model of lapidescent.
noun
- The state or quality of being lapidescent.
- The process of hardening into a stone substance.e.g.“The process of lapidescence had begun: the world was turning him into a monument to himself.” — 1982, John Banville, The Newton Letter:
- A stony concretion.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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