petrify

Petrify is a verb with two principal senses. In scientific usage, petrification refers to the transformation of organic material into stone through mineralization. This can occur when water rich in dissolved minerals permeates remains and minerals either replace the tissue (replacement petrification) or fill its spaces (permineralization). The result is a rock-like fossil or a petrified specimen, such as petrified wood.

In everyday language, to petrify means to cause someone to become so frightened that they cannot move or respond. This figurative use is common in literature, journalism, and common speech, as in being “petrified with fear.” The adjective petrified and the noun petrification are related forms.

In folklore and mythology, petrification is sometimes attributed to magical causes, notably the gaze of Medusa in Greek myth, which could turn onlookers to stone. The term is also used more broadly in fiction to describe scenes of awe or extreme fear. In scientific contexts, petrification differs from other fossilization processes but shares the general idea of preserving or turning material into stone through mineral processes.