VOCABULARY BUILDER

dichotomy
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -mies
Etymology: Greek dichotomia, from dichotomos
Date: 1610

1: a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities  <the dichotomy between theory and practice>;  also: the process or practice of making such a division  <dichotomy of the population into two opposed classes>
2: the phase of the moon or an inferior planet in which half its disk appears illuminated
3 a: BIFURCATION;  especially: repeated bifurcation (as of a plant's stem)  b : a system of branching in which the main axis forks repeatedly into two branches  c : branching of an ancestral line into two equal diverging branches

4: something with seemingly contradictory qualities  <it's a dichotomy, this opulent Ritz-style luxury in a place that fronts on a boat harbor — Jean T. Barrett>

Source: The Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary

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