Contextualizebeta

epiphenomenon

noun
/ˌɛpɪfəˈnɒmɪnən/UK/ˌɛpəfəˈnɑməˌnɑn/US

Etymology

PIE word *h₁epi From epi- (prefix meaning ‘above, on, over; in addition to’) + phenomenon. Phenomenon is derived from Late Latin phaenomenon (“appearance”), from Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon, “thing that appears in one’s view; appearance; phenomenon”), a noun use of the neuter singular form of φαινόμενος (phainómenos), the present middle or passive participle of φαίνω (phaínō, “to cause to appear; to reveal, show, uncover; to expound”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to glow with light, to shine”).

  1. derived from *bʰeh₂-✻ — “to glow with light, to shine”
  2. derived from φαινόμενον — “thing that appears in one’s view; appearance; phenomenon”
  3. derived from phaenomenon — “appearance”

Definitions

  1. An activity, process, or state that is the result of another

    An activity, process, or state that is the result of another; a by-product, a consequence.

    • Yet I would suggest that philosophical and even medical curiosity are only epiphenomenons of another condition that brought deafness to cultural attention.
    • [R]esource conservation is an epiphenomenon of warfare: a no-man's land between two warring tribes becomes a wildlife refuge because hunters do not visit the area for fear of becoming casualties in the war.

  2. A mental process or state that is an incidental by-product of physiological events in the…

    A mental process or state that is an incidental by-product of physiological events in the brain or nervous system.

    • It is a necessary corollary of the view here advanced that in instinct as such consciousness is a mere epiphenomenon—a by-product, with no bearing whatever on the performance of the activity in so far as it is instinctive.
    • According to this hypothesis, mind is a ‘collateral product’ of the physical, an ‘epiphænomenon’ accompanying, but never causally affecting, the physical series of phænomena.

  3. A symptom that develops during the course of a disease that is not connected to the…

    A symptom that develops during the course of a disease that is not connected to the disease.

    • EPIPHÆNOMENA, […] Signs in Diſeaſes which appear afterwards.
    • The appetite commonly remains little impaired, but it is conjoined with the fear of taking food. The tongue is generally clean, and the taste natural; a contrary state the author considers and denominates an epiphenomenon.
    • In all cases, the presence of bile in the blood is a mere epiphænomenon, and therefore demands no special attention.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for epiphenomenon. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA