ramification
English
Etymology
From Middle French ramification, or its source, Latin ramificō.
Noun
ramification (countable and uncountable, 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.
Related terms
Translations
branching process
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consequence or development complicating a problem
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Further reading
- ramification in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- ramification in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
French
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʁa.mi.fi.ka.sjɔ̃/
Noun
ramification f (plural ramifications)
- a (criminal) network, offshoots of an (often clandestine) organization
- ramification, implication
- (botany, anatomy) ramification
Further reading
- “ramification” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Middle French
Noun
ramification f (plural ramifications)
- division into branches
- 1570, Jean Canappe, Tables anatomiques du corps humain universel: soit de l'homme, ou de la femme page 24
- De laquelle nous donnerons la divarication, cestadire ramification, ou division en ses rameaux, quand nous traicterons du foye.
- From which [from the vein] we get separating out, that is to say ramification, or division into several branches, when we are talking about the liver.
- De laquelle nous donnerons la divarication, cestadire ramification, ou division en ses rameaux, quand nous traicterons du foye.
- 1570, Jean Canappe, Tables anatomiques du corps humain universel: soit de l'homme, ou de la femme page 24
Descendants
- English: ramification (borrowed)
- French: ramification
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