Definition of "ossification" []

• The natural process of bone formation. (noun)
• The hardening or calcification of soft tissue into a bonelike material. (noun)
• A mass or deposit of such material. (noun)
• The process of becoming set in a rigidly conventional pattern, as of behavior, habits, or beliefs. (noun)
• Rigid, unimaginative convention. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The formation of the Haversian canals for the passage of blood-vessels to nourish the bones, the earlier construction of bony tissue by a metamorphosis of cartilaginous substance, and also the commencement of ossification at distinct points, called _centers of ossification_, are all important subjects, requiring the student's careful attention."
• "The replacement called "ossification" begins in the center of the limb bone and continues toward proximal and distal ends of the bone simulataneously."
• "Students of the regulatory process refer to this as the "ossification" of the rulemaking process."