induration

[in-doo-rey-shuhn, -dyoo-]

noun

1. the act of indurating.

2. the state of being indurated.

3. Geology.

   1. lithification.

   2. hardening of rock by heat or pressure.

4. Pathology.

   1. a hardening of an area of the body as a reaction to inflammation, hyperemia, or neoplastic infiltration.

   2. an area or part of the body that has undergone such a reaction.

Other Word Forms

• indurative adjective
• nonindurative adjective
• unindurative adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of induration¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin indūrātiōn- (stem of indūrātiō ) a hardening. See indurate, -ion

Example Sentences

The irreducibility is due either to its large size or to changes which have taken place by indurations or adhesions.

From Project Gutenberg

In cases of obdurate induration, the udder should be anointed with iodine ointment.

From Project Gutenberg

The Gentile ignorance of God was attended, as St Paul saw it, with an induration of heart, of which it was at once the cause and the effect.

From Project Gutenberg

In scrofulous children the course may be protracted for several weeks, and in them resolution is occasionally imperfect, a degree of enlargement and induration of one or both parotids remaining for some time.

From Project Gutenberg

After eight days the storm calmed down, and it was remarkable to witness the steady decrease of the induration in the cervical glands and mamma.

From Project Gutenberg