kivettyivät

Kivettyivät is the Finnish past tense form of the verb kivettyä, meaning that something “became petrified” or “turned to stone.” The form can describe literal petrification or fossilization, as well as figurative stiffening of people or objects.

In geology and paleontology, kivettyminen refers to the process by which organic material is mineralized and preserved as stone or fossilized remains. In everyday language, the verb can describe someone becoming motionless or emotionally rigid due to fear, shock, or surprise.

Grammatical notes: kivettyä is intransitive, and kivettyivät is the third-person plural past tense form. Related words include kivettynyt (petrified, past participle) and kivettyminen (petrification, fossilization).

Examples:

- Jäännökset kivettyivät miljoonien vuosien kuluessa.

- Ne kivettyivät paikoilleen pelästyneinä.

See also: petrification, fossilization, lithification, kivettyminen.