calcify
verb
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What is the difference between ossify and calcify?
Medically speaking, ossify refers to the process by which bone forms, or by which tissue (usually cartilage) changes into bone. Ossification is a natural process that starts in utero and which comprises several different steps—one of which is the deposit of calcium salts, also known as calcification. Calcify, however, only refers to the deposit of calcium salts in soft tissue and is not synonymous with ossify. Ossification creates bone tissue, which is more than simply a deposit of calcium salts.
Both ossify and calcify have gained more general uses as well. Calcify refers to hardening, to becoming inflexible and unable to change:
What were once upstart revisionist currents calcified into self-regarding academic sub-specialties, sponsoring plenty of analysis but little fundamental debate.
— Sean Wilentz, The New Republic, 2 July 2001
Ossify refers to becoming inflexible, conventional, and resistant to change:
For these writers, the ossified ideologies of the world, imbedded in the communal imagination, block vision, and as artists they respond not by criticism from without but by confrontation from within.
—Robert Coover, The New York Times Book Review, 18 Mar. 1984
While ossify generally has a slightly more disparaging connotation to it than calcify does in general uses, our evidence shows that the two words are beginning to merge semantically.
Examples of calcify in a Sentence
Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2025
Their anti-Trump entrenchment has calcified into left-wing orthodoxy that’s difficult to unwind.
—Nafees Alam, Twin Cities, 22 Oct. 2025
Their anti-Trump entrenchment has calcified into left-wing orthodoxy that’s difficult to unwind.
—Nafees Alam, Boston Herald, 18 Oct. 2025
The targeted killing of the Iranian general Qasem Soleimani by the United States in 2020 likely calcified these concerns in the minds of Iran’s leaders.
—Vipin Narang, Foreign Affairs, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for calcify
Cite this Entry
“Calcify.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calcify. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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calcify
verb
Medical Definition
calcify
verb
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