epiphenomenon
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˌɛpɪfəˈnɑːmɪnən/
- Specialized
:
epifenómeno
- In urban areas, traffic congestion often represents an epiphenomenon of rapid population growth and insufficient infrastructure.
And it's clearly an epiphenomenon of our modern circumstances, our modern way of life.
- And it's clearly an epiphenomenon of our modern circumstances, our modern way of life.
- But when you have REM sleep with a complex brain like ours, you also produce this conscious epiphenomenon called dreaming.
- It may be an epiphenomenon after all all the things your brain does, but they're actually hard computations you do non consciously.
Examples
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The epidemic use of psychotropic drugs is an epiphenomenon of 20th and 21st century Western culture.
Blog text (6) -
Williams himself put forth a theory that aging was an epiphenomenon, a side effect of selection going for broke in its quest for faster reproduction.
Academic text (2002) -
And it's clearly an epiphenomenon of our modern circumstances, our modern way of life.
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Is the church rapidly becoming an epiphenomenon in the post-socialist era?
Academic text (1996) -
The whole human project is not simply an accident, an epiphenomenon, with no deeper guiding archetypal meaning.
Academic text (2001) -
You could think of music as an epiphenomenon—something that happens when people do things.
Academic text (2008) -
Surgical waiting lists are an often criticized epiphenomenon of supply-demand mismatch within single-payer universal health care systems.
Academic text (1995) -
Before long, philosophers were concluding that the human mind was a mere epiphenomenon, devoid of substance and autonomy; thus, they undercut the prospects of immortality.
Academic text (1995) -
The rise in digital communication is an epiphenomenon of the increasing use of technology in our daily lives.
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The popularity of smartphone apps is merely an epiphenomenon resulting from the shift in consumer behavior toward mobile platforms.
Synonyms
259
3.3
An unwanted health change caused by a medicine or treatment
6
3.9
An extra result that happens because of an action and is not planned
Surface Forms
Morphology
epiphenomenon = phenomenon (semi-transparent) = epi + phenomenon
The prefix 'epi-' suggests 'upon' or 'in addition to', but the specific meaning of a secondary effect is not fully transparent to all learners.
Etymology
The word epiphenomenon comes from the prefix epi- meaning 'on' or 'after' and phenomenon meaning 'a thing that appears'. Think of it like a shadow that appears because of a larger thing: an epiphenomenon is an extra, secondary effect that comes with something else but does not cause it.