symptom

A symptom is a visible or felt manifestation of an invisible underlying cause. It is the "smoke" that alerts you to the "fire." Unlike a 'sign' (which can be neutral), a symptom almost always carries a negative connotation, suggesting that something is wrong, broken, or diseased. In medical contexts, it refers to subjective experiences reported by a patient. In social or economic contexts, it describes surface-level problems that point toward a systemic failure. Using 'symptom' instead of 'result' implies that the issue is part of a larger, more complex pathology that needs diagnosing.