Ramulate

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Possessing or arranged in small branches or branch-like divisions
2. Marked by a pattern of branching or subdividing into smaller offshoots
3. Exhibiting a structure of small branches or ramifications extending from a main stem or body

Etymology: The root is Latin "ramus", "branch", which also gave English "ramify" and "ramose". Adding the diminutive "-ulus" produced "ramulus", a little branch, and the English adjective takes that stem with the Latin-derived "-ate" ending, meaning "furnished with" or "having". Botanists used it to describe plants whose stems and twigs divide into many small branchlets. It is a learned scientific formation, so it was made deliberately from classical material rather than inherited through speech. The exact date it first appeared in English writing is uncertain.

Synonyms: branched, ramified