petrification
/ˌpɛtɹɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/noun
petrification is spelled P-E-T-R-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N: 13 letters. It appears about once in every 26 million words in written English, the 155,937th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, petrification means “Turning to stone: the process of replacement of the organic residues of plants (and animals) with insoluble salts, with the original shape and…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of petrification is petrifications.
How many letters and syllables are in petrification?
| Letters | 13: P-E-T-R-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 26 million words; the 155,937th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is petrification?
Petrification appears about once in every 26 million words in written English, the 155,937th 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).
How do you pronounce petrification?
- /ˌpɛtɹɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-petrification.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of petrification
- petrifications plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does petrification mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Turning to stone: the process of replacement of the organic residues of plants (and animals) with insoluble salts, with the original shape and topography being retained.
- 2
obduracy; callousness.
- 3
Sheer terror; great fright.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Petrification in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense process of replacing the organic residues with insoluble salts:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pétrification |
| German | Versteinerung, Petrifikation |
| Portuguese | petrificação |
| Spanish | petrificación, silicatización |
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 petrification come from?
From French pétrification, from Middle French pétrifier + -ation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).