ramification

1. (botany, anatomy, also figurative) A branching-out, the act or result of developing branches; specifically the divergence of the stem and limbs of a plant into smaller ones, or of similar developments in blood vessels, anatomical structures etc.Examples: "The character of trees may be studied to advantage […] in winter, when the forms of the ramification can be seen in the naked boughs […]"; "From the left chamber or ventricle of the strong muscular mass, the heart, a large tube arises, called the aorta; and by a continued division or ramification, opens a way for the bright scarlet blood to the very minutest part of the living frame […]"; "[…]we may be sure that Becky and Briggs looked out those august names in the Peerage, and followed the noble races up through all the ramifications of the family tree."alsocountablefigurativelyuncountable

2. (figurative, often in the plural) An offshoot of a decision, fact etc.; a consequence or implication, especially one which complicates a situation.Examples: "The treachery of some of the Jacobite agents (Rashleigh among the rest), and the arrest of others, had made George the First's Government acquainted with the extensive ramifications of a conspiracy long prepared, and which at last exploded prematurely […]"; "What, then, is my Scheme? It is a very simple one, although in its ramifications and extensions it embraces the whole world."; "He stirred up a bigger muss than he had anticipated, and even he was astounded at the wide ramifications of the struggle and at the unexpected and incongruous interests that were drawn into it."countablefigurativelyin-pluraloftenuncountable

3. (mathematics) An arrangement of branches.countableuncountable