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lignify (LIG-nuh-fai) - v., to turn into wood or into woody tissue; to become rigid or fixed like something wooden.
Can be transitive (turn something else into wood) or intransitive (turn one/itself into wood). Biologically, this is caused by formation and deposit of lignin in cell walls, which in certain plants can happen during secondary growth. I can see this being used in a P.G. Wodehouse novel, when the butler's face lignifies as the young cad prattles on, not realizing he's given himself away. This was coined in French as lignifier, from the Latin root līgnum, wood.
---L.
Can be transitive (turn something else into wood) or intransitive (turn one/itself into wood). Biologically, this is caused by formation and deposit of lignin in cell walls, which in certain plants can happen during secondary growth. I can see this being used in a P.G. Wodehouse novel, when the butler's face lignifies as the young cad prattles on, not realizing he's given himself away. This was coined in French as lignifier, from the Latin root līgnum, wood.
---L.
