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Ramification vs Impact - What's the difference?

ramification | impact |

As nouns the difference between ramification and impact

is that ramification is (botany|anatomy) 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 while impact is the striking of one body against another; collision.

As a verb impact is

to compress; to compact; to press or pack together.

ramification

Noun

(en noun)
  • (botany, anatomy) 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.
  • * 1829 , Lincoln Phelps, Familiar Lectures on Botany , p. 179:
  • The character of trees may be studied to advantage [...] in winter, when the forms of the ramification can be seen in the naked boughs [...].
  • * 1856 , Neil Arnott & Isaac Hayes, Elements of Physics , pp. 414-5:
  • 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 [...].
  • An offshoot of a decision, fact etc.; a consequence or implication, especially one which complicates a situation.
  • * 1834 , Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy :
  • 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 [...].
  • * 2009 , The Guardian , Chris Power, Booksblog, 14 Jul 09:
  • But most often and memorably his work falls into that territory best summed up as speculative fiction, with a particular emphasis on dystopian futures and the existential ramifications of space exploration.
  • (mathematics) An arrangement of branches.
  • impact

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The striking of one body against another; collision.
  • The force or energy of a collision of two objects.
  • The hatchet cut the wood on impact .
  • (chiefly, medicine) A forced impinging.
  • His spine had an impingement; L4 and L5 made impact , which caused numbness in his leg.
  • A significant or strong influence; an effect.
  • His friend's opinion had an impact on his decision.
    Our choice of concrete will have a tremendous impact on the building's mechanical performance.

    Usage notes

    * Adjectives often applied to "impact": social, political, physical, positive, negative, good, bad, beneficial, harmful, significant, great, important, strong, big, small, real, huge, likely, actual, potential, devastating, disastrous, true, primary. * The adposition generally used with "impact" is "on" (such as in last example in section above) * There are English speakers who are so ). In defensive editing, the solution is to replace the figurative noun sense with effect'' and the verb sense with ''affect , which nearly always produces an acceptable result. (Rarely, a phrase such as "the impact of late effects" is better stetted to avoid "the effect of [...] effects".)

    Derived terms

    * impactful * impactive * impact statement * Western impact

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To compress; to compact; to press or pack together.
  • If fecal incontinence is caused by impacted stool in the rectum, the impaction must be removed.
  • (proscribed) To influence; to affect; to have an on.
  • ''I can make the changes, but it will impact the schedule.
  • To collide or strike.
  • When the hammer impacts the nail, it bends.

    Usage notes

    Some authorities object to the verb sense of impact'', meaning "to influence; to affect; to have an impact on" or "to collide or strike". Although most .

    Derived terms

    * impactor