Exogenies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. External factors or influences that originate outside a system or organism and affect its condition or development
2. Causes or agents that come from the outside environment and impact an internal process or structure
3. Elements or conditions arising externally that contribute to changes or responses within a given entity

Etymology: "Exogenies" is the plural of "exogeny," a noun built from the Greek "exō" ("outside") and the root "-gen-," from "gignesthai" ("to be born" or "to come into being"). The same pair of parts gives "exogenous," which botanists used to describe plants whose stems thicken from the outside, unlike the inside-growing stems of certain other plants. Scientists later borrowed the idea to describe anything whose cause lies outside its system. The plural form refers to several such outside causes at once.

Synonyms: exogenous factors, external causes, external agents

Antonyms: endogenies, endogenous factors, internal causes