Turned into a fossil through a natural process over millions of years; or figuratively, stuck in old ways and unable to change.
From 'fossil,' which comes from Latin 'fossilis' (dug up), from 'fossus' (dug). The suffix '-ized' means to make or become something, popular in forming verbs since the 1600s.
When we call someone's ideas 'fossilized,' we're using a 600-year-old metaphor—their thinking is as hard and unchangeable as actual stone! The word fossil itself was used before people even understood what fossils were; scientists thought they were just oddly-shaped rocks.
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