What is "induration"

Induration \In`du*ra"tion\, n. [Cf. F. induration, L. induratio hardness of heart.]

1. The act of hardening, or the process of growing hard.

2. State of being indurated, or of having become hard.

3. Hardness of character, manner, sensibility, etc.; obduracy; stiffness; lack of pliancy or feeling.

   A certain induration of character had arisen from long habits of business.
   --Coleridge.

late 14c., from Old French induracion "hardness, obstinacy" (14c.) or directly from Medieval Latin indurationem (nominative induratio) "hardness (especially of the heart)," noun of action from indurare (see endure).

n. 1 hardness. 2 Process of becoming hard. 3 (context medical English) Hardening of an area of the body as a reaction to inflammation, hyperemia, or neoplastic infiltration. 4 (context medical English) An area or part of the body that has undergone such a reaction. Most often this term is used to describe dermatologic findings.

n. any pathological hardening or thickening of tissue [syn: sclerosis]