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ramify

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ram⋅i⋅fy

  [ram-uh-fahy]
Use ramify in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object), -fied, -fy⋅ing.
to divide or spread out into branches or branchlike parts; extend into subdivisions.
Origin:
1535–45; < MF ramifier < ML rāmificāre, equiv. to L rām(us) branch (see ramus ) + -ificāre -ify
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ram·i·fy   (rām'ə-fī')   
v.   ram·i·fied, ram·i·fy·ing, ram·i·fies

v.   intr.

  1. To have complicating consequences or outgrowths: The problem merely ramified after the unsuccessful meeting.

  2. To send out branches or subordinate branchlike parts.

v.   tr.
To divide into or cause to extend in branches or subordinate branchlike parts.

[Middle English ramifien, to branch out, from Old French ramifier, from Medieval Latin rāmificāre : Latin rāmus, branch; see wrād- in Indo-European roots + Latin -ficāre, -fy.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ramify 
1541, "branch out," from M.Fr. ramifier (1314), from M.L. ramificare, from L. ramus "branch" (related to radix "root;" see radish) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Ramification in literal sense is first recorded 1677, from Fr.; transf. sense of "outgrowth, consequence" first recorded 1755.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: ram·i·fy
Pronunciation: 'ram-&-"fI
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Forms: -fied; -fy·ing
: tosplit up into branches or constituent parts
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

ramify ram·i·fy (rām'ə-fī')
v. ram·i·fied, ram·i·fy·ing, ram·i·fies
To branch.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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