ramification

noun

1. (also, countable, figuratively, uncountable)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.

   “The character of trees may be studied to advantage […] in winter, when the forms of the ramification can be seen in the naked boughs […]”

   “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 […]”

   “[…]we may be sure that Becky and Briggs looked out those august names in the Peerage, and followed the noble races up through all the ramifications of the family tree.”

   ““You live in a different world to me, Mr. Overton—a sweeter and healthier one. My ramifications stretch out into many sections of society, but never, I am happy to say, into amateur sport, which is the best and soundest thing in England.[…]”

   “Quite unexpectedly an idea popped into Tarzan's head. In following out the many ramifications of the dictionary definition of God he had come upon the word create—“to cause to come into existence; to form out of nothing.””

2. (countable, figuratively, in-plural, often, uncountable)An offshoot of a decision, fact etc.; a consequence or implication, especially one which complicates a situation.

   “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 […]”

   “What, then, is my Scheme? It is a very simple one, although in its ramifications and extensions it embraces the whole world.”

   “He stirred up a bigger muss than he had anticipated, and even he was astounded at the wide ramifications of the struggle and at the unexpected and incongruous interests that were drawn into it.”

   “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.”

   “The advent of COVID passports, so soon after increased check-in bureaucracy post-Brexit, brought major logistical ramifications to St Pancras International, of a kind unseen at any other major station in Britain.”

3. (countable, uncountable)An arrangement of branches.