Sentence:  Yet in using the word "democracy", one must plead for a distinction, or, better, a reversion, indicated by the curious <WSD>anchylosis</WSD> that, at a certain point in their maturity, usually sets in upon words newly put in use to express some august and large spiritual reality. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An onset of stiffness or inflexibility.