ramification
noun (usually ramifications)
a consequence of an action or event, especially when complex or unwelcome: any change is bound to have legal ramifications.
• a subdivision of a complex structure or process perceived as comparable to a tree's branches: an extended family with its ramifications of neighboring in-laws.
• formal or technical the action or state of ramifying or being ramified.
coup |ko͞o|
noun (plural coups |ko͞oz| )
1 (also coup d'état) a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government:* he was overthrown in an army coup.
2 a notable or successful stroke or move: it was a major coup to get such a prestigious contract*.
• an unusual or unexpected but successful tactic in card play.
3 a contusion caused by contact of the brain with the skull at the point of trauma. Compare with contrecoup.
4 *historical *(among North American Indians) an act of touching an armed enemy in battle as a deed of bravery, or an act of first touching an item of the enemy's in order to claim it.
ORIGIN
late 18th century: from French, from medieval Latin *colpus ***‘blow’ **(see cope1
) .
