ramify — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To divide into branches or subdivisions.

   Usage

   • Transitive or intransitive

   Examples

   The cortical, hemispheral or superficial veins ramify on the surface of the brain and return the blood from the cortical substance into the venous sinuses.

2. To spread or diversify into multiple fields or categories.

   Usage

   • Figurative

   Examples

   to ramify an art, subject, scheme

   More examples (2)

   And, of course, on such momentous occasions as these, Manning was in his element. None knew those difficult ropes better than he; none used them with a more serviceable and yet discreet alacrity. In every juncture he had the right word, or the right silence; his influence ramified in all directions, from the Pope's audience chamber to the English Cabinet.

   My point here is that the field within which such determination takes place is not bounded to constitute a single discipline, a single academic elite, a single language domain, a single culture, a single historical period, but that that field ramifies out so as to encompass, ultimately, the entire history of the whole of humankind.

Verb

1. have or develop complicating consequences

   Synonyms

   complexify

   Broader terms

   change

   Examples

   These actions will ramify

2. grow and send out branches or branch-like structures

   Synonyms

   branch

   Broader terms

   grow

   Examples

   these plants ramify early and get to be very large

3. divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork

   Synonyms

   branchforkfurcateseparate

   Broader terms

   diverge

   Examples

   The road forks