- to convert into a fossil; replace organic with mineral substances in the remains of an organism.
- to change as if into mere lifeless remains or traces of the past.
- to make rigidly antiquated: Time has fossilized such methods.
- to become a fossil or like a fossil: The plant fossilized in comparatively recent geologic time.
- (of a linguistic form, feature, rule, etc.) to become permanently established in the interlanguage of a second-language learner in a form that is deviant from the target-language norm and that continues to appear in performance regardless of further exposure to the target language.
- to convert or be converted into a fossil
- to become or cause to become antiquated or inflexible
