epiphenomenon

American  

[ep-uh-fuh-nom-uh-non, -nuhn] / ˌɛp ə fəˈnɒm əˌnɒn, -nən /

noun

plural

epiphenomena, epiphenomenons

1. Pathology. a secondary or additional symptom or complication arising during the course of a disease.

2. any secondary phenomenon.

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epiphenomenon British  

/ ˌɛpɪfɪˈnɒmɪnən /

noun

1. a secondary or additional phenomenon; by-product

2. pathol an unexpected or atypical symptom or occurrence during the course of a disease

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Other Word Forms

• epiphenomenal adjective
• epiphenomenally adverb

Etymology

Origin of epiphenomenon

First recorded in 1700–10; epi- + phenomenon

Example Sentences

Physicists, notably Eugene Wigner and John Wheeler, have speculated that consciousness, far from being a mere epiphenomenon of matter, is an essential component of reality.

From Scientific American • Sep. 27, 2021

I confess to a certain discomfort in arguing that conscious deliberation is strictly an epiphenomenon that plays no role in our decision-making.

From Salon • May 30, 2021

This toxic miasma of bad vibes—of masochistic pleasures—is not, in Lanier’s view, an epiphenomenon of social media, but rather the fuel on which it has been engineered to run.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 19, 2018

There is a lot of reading between the lines to be done with these letters, which allow only occasional glimpses of the life of which they were an epiphenomenon.

From Slate • Dec. 2, 2015

We must look upon the mind as an "epiphenomenon," a useless decoration; and must regard man as "a physical automaton with parallel psychical states."

From An Introduction to Philosophy by Fullerton, George Stuart