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

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

Life, according to Crick, was an epiphenomenon of physics and chemistry — complex, yes, but still explicable in molecular terms.

From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2021

But if he once struck me as the center point of the show’s ills, he now strikes me as a side effect or epiphenomenon.

From Slate • Jul. 31, 2020

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

In this view, people are biological machines - consciousness is an interesting and valuable epiphenomenon, but mind is implemented in machinery which is not fundamentally different in information-processing capacity from computers.

From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Steele, Guy L.