lapidifier

Senses

1. 1.

   to petrify; to turn to stone

   to convert into stone or a stone-like substance through geological or chemical processes

2. 2.

   to harden; to make callous

   to make insensitive or emotionally unmoved (figurative)

Examples

• "Les débris organiques se lapidifient lentement au cours des millénaires."

  Organic matter petrifies slowly over millennia.

• "Le cœur du tyran s'était lapidifié face aux souffrances de son peuple."

  The tyrant's heart had hardened/become callous to his people's suffering.

Usage

A technical/literary verb, most commonly used in geological contexts (fossils, petrified wood) or as a figurative expression meaning to become emotionally hardened. Regular -fier conjugation.