| Main Entry: | emergent property |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | any unique property that "emerges" when component objects are joined together in constraining relations to "construct" a higher-level aggregate object, a novel property that unpredictably comes from a combination of two simpler constituents |
| Example: | The familiar taste of salt is an emergent property with respect to the sodium and chlorine of which it is composed. |