Dictionary

petrify en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• (General-American) audio
• /ˈpɛ.tɹəˌfaɪ/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle French pétrifier, from Medieval Latin petrificāre, from Latin petra (“rock”), from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra, “rock”) + -ficāre, from facere (“do, make”), equivalent to petro- + -ify.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To turn to stone: to harden organic matter by permeating with water and depositing dissolved minerals.
   • a river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves 1799, Richard Kirwan, Geological Essays:
2. To produce rigidity akin to stone.
3. To immobilize with fright.
4. (intransitive) To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
5. (figuratively, intransitive) To become stony, callous, or obdurate.
   • Hopes, feelings, and passion, petrify one after another; the crust of experience soon hardens over the hidden past; and who, looking on the levelled and subdued exterior, could dream of the wreck and ravage that lies below? 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Result”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 233:
   • Like Niobe we marble grow, / And petrify with grief. 1685, John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis:
6. (figuratively, transitive) To make callous or obdurate; to stupefy; to paralyze; to transform; as by petrification.
   • petrify a genius to a dunce 1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC:
   • A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to petrify your volition. 1874, George Eliot, letter to Mrs. Ponsonby:

Forms

Deriveds

unpetrify · petrifiable · petrifier

Relateds

calcify · mineralize · permineralize · ossify · petrifaction

Synonyms

grill · alarm · frighten · harrow · terrify · terrorize · fray · scare the pants off of · spook · scare the shit out of · scare the hell out of · give someone the shits · mortify · scare straight · petrify · affright · scare · dismay · appall · make someone's blood run cold · horrify · scare the bejeebers out of

Translations (79)

es petrificar (to harden organic matter) · hi पथराना (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · nl verstenen (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · cy caregu (to become stone, or of a stony hardness) · ru окамене́ть (to become stone, or of a stony hardness) · ru камене́ть (to become stone, or of a stony hardness) · gl petrificar (to immobilize with fright) · nl verstenen (to harden organic matter) · bg вкаменявам се (to become stone, or of a stony hardness) · pl zdrętwieć (to immobilize with fright) · da forstene (to immobilize with fright) · tr taş kesilmek (to immobilize with fright) · pl drętwieć (to immobilize with fright) · ru окамене́ть (to become stony, callous, or obdurate) · cmn 使发呆 (to make callous or obdurate; to transform as by petrification) · fi jähmettää (to make callous or obdurate; to transform as by petrification) · uk ціпені́ти (to immobilize with fright) · ro petrifica (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · sv förstena (to harden organic matter) · ru камене́ть (to become stony, callous, or obdurate) · nl verstarren (to immobilize with fright) · sv förstena (to immobilize with fright) · tr taşlaştırmak (to make callous or obdurate; to transform as by petrification) · fi kovettaa (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · fi kovettaa (to make callous or obdurate; to transform as by petrification) · it pietrificare (to harden organic matter) · da forstene (to harden organic matter) · es petrificar (to immobilize with fright) · tr taşlaşmak (to become stone, or of a stony hardness) · ru превраща́ть в ка́мень (to harden organic matter) · de versteinern (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · cy caregu (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · pl lodowacieć (to immobilize with fright) · pt petrificar (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · el απολιθώνω (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · cy fferru (to become stone, or of a stony hardness) · cy fferru (to immobilize with fright) · grc πωρόω (to harden organic matter) · de versteinern (to harden organic matter) · bg вкаменявам (to harden organic matter) · fi jähmettää (to immobilize with fright) · tr taşlaşmak (to immobilize with fright) · da forstene (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · fr pétrifier (to immobilize with fright) · fr pétrifier (to harden organic matter) · ja 石化する (to harden organic matter) · tr taşlaşmak (to harden organic matter) · ro petrifica (to harden organic matter) · cy caregu (to harden organic matter) · fi kivettää (to immobilize with fright) · gl petrificar (to harden organic matter) · tr taşa dönmek (to harden organic matter) · bg вкаменявам се (to become stony, callous, or obdurate) · fi kivettyä (to become stone, or of a stony hardness) · pt petrificar (to harden organic matter) · ca petrificar (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · ca petrificar (to immobilize with fright) · el απολιθώνω (to harden organic matter) · hi पथराना (to become stone, or of a stony hardness) · tl nanigas (to immobilize with fright) · fi kivettää (to harden organic matter) · la lapidesco (to become stone, or of a stony hardness) · tr donakalmak (to immobilize with fright) · ro petrifica (to immobilize with fright) · grc πωρόω (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · ro împietri (to immobilize with fright) · bg вкаменявам (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · fi kovettua (to become stony, callous, or obdurate) · bg вцепенявам (to immobilize with fright) · nl verstenen (to immobilize with fright) · sv förstena (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · pt petrificar (to immobilize with fright) · ast petrificar (to harden organic matter) · ca petrificar (to harden organic matter) · fr pétrifier (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · cmn 石化 (to become stone, or of a stony hardness) · de erstarren (to immobilize with fright) · tr taşlaştırmak (to produce rigidity akin to stone) · pl zlodowacieć (to immobilize with fright)