epiphenomenon

noun

Etymology: PIE word *h₁epi Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi Proto-Hellenic *epí Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) Ancient Greek ἐπῐ- (epĭ-)der. English epi- Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-der. Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon)bor. Late Latin phaenomenonder. English phenomenon English epiphenomenon From epi- (prefix meaning ‘above, on, over; in addition to’) + phenomenon. Phenomenon is derived from Late Latin phaenomenon (“appearance”), from Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon, “thing that appears in one’s view; appearance; phenomenon”), a noun use of the neuter singular form of φαινόμενος (phainómenos), the present middle or passive participle of φαίνω (phaínō, “to cause to appear; to reveal, show, uncover; to expound”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to glow with light, to shine”).

1. An activity, process, or state that is the result of another; a by-product, a consequence.

   “Yet I would suggest that philosophical and even medical curiosity are only epiphenomenons of another condition that brought deafness to cultural attention.”

   “[R]esource conservation is an epiphenomenon of warfare: a no-man's land between two warring tribes becomes a wildlife refuge because hunters do not visit the area for fear of becoming casualties in the war.”

2. A mental process or state that is an incidental by-product of physiological events in the brain or nervous system.

   “It is a necessary corollary of the view here advanced that in instinct as such consciousness is a mere epiphenomenon—a by-product, with no bearing whatever on the performance of the activity in so far as it is instinctive.”

   “According to this hypothesis, mind is a ‘collateral product’ of the physical, an ‘epiphænomenon’ accompanying, but never causally affecting, the physical series of phænomena.”

3. A symptom that develops during the course of a disease that is not connected to the disease.

   “EPIPHÆNOMENA, […] Signs in Diſeaſes which appear afterwards.”

   “The appetite commonly remains little impaired, but it is conjoined with the fear of taking food. The tongue is generally clean, and the taste natural; a contrary state the author considers and denominates an epiphenomenon.”