dichotomous

English

WOTD – 30 January 2008

Etymology

From Late Latin dichotomos, from Ancient Greek διχότομος (dikhótomos, “cut in half”), from δίχα (díkha, “apart”) + τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /daɪˈkɒt.ə.məs/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /daɪˈkɑ.tə.məs/, [daɪˈkɑ.ɾə.məs]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /dɑɪˈkɔt.ə.məs/, [dɑɪˈkɔɾ.ə.məs]

Adjective

dichotomous (not comparable)

1. Dividing or branching into two mutually exclusive pieces.
   • 1992, Marie L. Hicks, Guide to the Liverworts of North Carolina, page 197:

     Genus Riccia L. Plants are thalloid, forming rosettes or loose, dichotomous patches.

   • 2023 February 23, Fara Dabhoiwala, “The West by Naoíse Mac Sweeney review – history rediscovered”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     The second half of the book switches to the increasingly dark story of how, from the 17th century onwards, European thinkers and politicians constructed a more and more dichotomous worldview.

Synonyms

• (dividing into two equal parts): bipartite, forked

Derived terms

• dichotomous key
• dichotomously
• dichotomousness
• isodichotomous
• nondichotomous
• pseudodichotomous

 

Related terms

• dichotomy

Translations

dividing or branching into two pieces

• Danish: dikotomisk
• Finnish: kaksijakoinen, dikotominen (fi)
• German: dichotom (de)
• Latin: dichotomos
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dikotom

• Polish: dwudzielny (pl) m, dychotomiczny (pl) m