exogenous

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   originating outside an organism, system, or process

   The researchers separated exogenous pollutants from chemicals produced within the lake.

2. 2
   adj

   caused or introduced by a factor from outside the thing being studied

   The economist treated the sudden oil shortage as an exogenous shock to the model.

3. 3
   adj

   botany, historical: growing by the addition of material or layers toward the outside

   Older botanical texts classified woody plants with outward-thickening stems as exogenous plants.

Formed from Greek-derived exo-, 'outside,' and -genous, 'produced or born.' Scientific English first used it for growth or formation from the outside; economics, medicine, and other fields later extended it to causes introduced from beyond a system.

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