Meaning & use
ramify
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Meanings
verbintransitivetechnical
To split into smaller branches or parts, the way a tree, river, or network spreads out from a single trunk or source.
Grammar: No object; often followed by a direction word: the nerve ramifies into fine fibers.
Patterns
- ramify into something
- ramify through something
Beyond the village, the main canal ramifies into dozens of narrow channels.
In the lung, each airway ramifies again and again until it ends in tiny sacs.
The roots of the old fig tree ramified under the whole courtyard.
verbintransitivefigurative
To spread out into many complicated effects, results, or sub-issues that are hard to follow or predict.
Grammar: No object; the subject is usually an idea, plan, or problem: the dispute ramified.
Patterns
- ramify into something
- ramify across something
What began as a small accounting error ramified into a full investigation of the firm.
The new tax rule will ramify through every department of the company.
Her simple question ramified until the committee was debating the whole budget.
Word forms
| third person singular | ramifies |
|---|---|
| past tense | ramified |
| past participle | ramified |
| -ing form | ramifying |
Common combinations
- ramify into
- The river ramifies into a maze of streams before reaching the sea.
- ramify through
- The effects of the policy ramified through the whole economy.
- ramify further
- The argument ramified further as more people joined in.
- begin to ramify
- The plot began to ramify in the second half of the novel.
- ramifying network
- A ramifying network of veins covered the leaf.
Synonyms and how they differ
- branch out
- Branch out is the everyday phrase and also means to try new activities, whereas ramify is formal and stresses splitting into many complex parts.
- fork
- Fork usually means splitting into just two paths, while ramify suggests repeated splitting into many.
- diverge
- Diverge means moving apart from a shared point, but it does not suggest the tree-like multiplication that ramify does.
- proliferate
- Proliferate stresses a fast increase in number, whereas ramify stresses a spreading, branching pattern.
Opposites
Word family
- ramification noun
- a consequence or complication that follows from a decision; also a branch of a structure
- ramified adjective
- divided into many branches or parts
- ramifications noun
- the plural form, most common in the phrase 'legal ramifications'
Commonly confused: ramify or ratify?
ramify vs ratify
Ratify means to approve a treaty or agreement formally by signing or voting; it has nothing to do with branching, even though the two words look alike.
Practice
Which sentence uses ramify correctly?
Choose one answer.
Ramify is intransitive and means to spread into many parts or effects, so only the dispute spreading fits. The first and fourth options describe formal approval, which is the meaning of ratify, a tempting look-alike.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ramify”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.