ramification

plural ramifications

1. alsocountablefigurativelyuncountableanatomyA 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 […]

   1829, Lincoln Phelps, Familiar Lectures on Botany, page 179

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   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 […]

   1856, Neil Arnott, Isaac Hayes, Elements of Physics, pages 414–5

   […]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.

   1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter XLVIII, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC

   “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.[…]

   1904 August, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLC

   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.”

   1919, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The God of Tarzan”, in Jungle Tales of Tarzan, pages 92–93

   Synonyms: branching

2. countablefigurativelyin pluraloftenuncountableAn offshoot of a decision, fact etc.; a consequence or implication, especially one which complicates a situation.

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

   1890, William Booth, In Darkest England and the Way Out

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   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 […]

   1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter X, in Rob Roy. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 272

   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.

   1910 October, Jack London, chapter VII, in Burning Daylight, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC

   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.

   2009 July 15, Chris Power, “A brief survey of the short story part 19: Ray Bradbury”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   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.

   2022 November 30, Nick Brodrick, “Pride and innovation shine at St Pancras”, in RAIL, number 971, page 67

3. countableuncountablemathematicsAn arrangement of branches.