fossilize
/ˈfɒs.ɪl.aɪz/verb
fossilize is a verb meaning “To make into a fossil” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled F-O-S-S-I-L-I-Z-E and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 38 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does fossilize mean?
verb
- 1
To make into a fossil.
- 2
To become a fossil.
- 3
To become inflexible or outmoded.
- 4
To make antiquated, rigid, or fixed; to deaden.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce fossilize?
- UK /ˈfɒs.ɪl.aɪz/
- UK /ˈfɒsl̩aɪz/
Fossilize has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-fossilize.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of fossilize
- fossilizes present, singular, he/she/it
- fossilizing participle, present
- fossilized participle, past
- fossilise
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is fossilize?
Fossilize appears about once in every 38 million words in written English, the 189,524th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Fossilize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to make into fossil:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fossiliser |
| German | fossilisieren |
| Spanish | fosilizar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does fossilize come from?
From fossil + -ize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).