ramification
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Middle French ramification, or its source, the participle stem of Latin ramificare.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
ramification (plural ramifications)
- (botany, anatomy) A branching-out, the act or result of developing branches; specifically the divergence of the stem and limbs of a plant into smaller ones, or of similar developments in blood vessels, anatomical structures etc.
- 1829, Lincoln Phelps, Familiar Lectures on Botany, p. 179:
- The character of trees may be studied to advantage [...] in winter, when the forms of the ramification can be seen in the naked boughs [...].
- 1856, Neil Arnott & Isaac Hayes, Elements of Physics, pp. 414-5:
- From the left chamber or ventricle of the strong muscular mass, the heart, a large tube arises, called the aorta; and by a continued division or ramification, opens a way for the bright scarlet blood to the very minutest part of the living frame [...].
- 1829, Lincoln Phelps, Familiar Lectures on Botany, p. 179:
- An offshoot of a decision, fact etc.; a consequence or implication, especially one which complicates a situation.
- 1834, Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy:
- The treachery of some of the Jacobite agents (Rashleigh among the rest), and the arrest of others, had made George the First's Government acquainted with the extensive ramifications of a conspiracy long prepared, and which at last exploded prematurely [...].
- 2009, The Guardian, Chris Power, Booksblog, 14 Jul 09:
- But most often and memorably his work falls into that territory best summed up as speculative fiction, with a particular emphasis on dystopian futures and the existential ramifications of space exploration.
- 1834, Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy:
- (mathematics) An arrangement of branches.
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
branching process
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consequence or development complicating a problem
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[edit] External links
- ramification in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- ramification in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
[edit] French
[edit] Noun
ramification f. (plural ramifications)
- a (criminal) network, offshoots of an (often clandestine) organization
- ramification, implication
- (botany, anatomy) ramification
