dichotomy

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di·chot·o·my

(dī-kŏt′ə-mē)

n. pl. di·chot·o·mies

1. A division into two contrasting parts or categories: the dichotomy between rural and urban communities; regards the division between nature and nurture as a false dichotomy.

2. Astronomy The phase of the moon, Mercury, or Venus when half of the disk is illuminated.

3. Botany Branching characterized by successive forking into two approximately equal divisions.

[Greek dikhotomiā, from dikhotomos, divided in two : dikho-, dicho- + temnein, to cut; see tem- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dichotomy

(daɪˈkɒtəmɪ)

n, pl -mies

1. division into two parts or classifications, esp when they are sharply distinguished or opposed: the dichotomy between eastern and western cultures.

2. (Logic) logic the division of a class into two mutually exclusive subclasses: the dichotomy of married and single people.

3. (Botany) botany a simple method of branching by repeated division into two equal parts

4. (Astronomy) the phase of the moon, Venus, or Mercury when half of the disc is visible

[C17: from Greek dichotomia; see dicho-, -tomy]

diˈchotomous, dichotomic adj

diˈchotomously adv

Usage: Dichotomy should always refer to a division of some kind into two groups. It is sometimes used to refer to a puzzling situation which seems to involve a contradiction, but this use is generally thought to be incorrect

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

di•chot•o•my

(daɪˈkɒt ə mi)

n., pl. -mies.

1. division into two parts or kinds; subdivision into halves or pairs.

2. division into two exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups: a dichotomy between thought and action.

3. a mode of branching by constant forking, as in some stems.

4. the phase of the moon or of an inferior planet when half of its disk is visible.

[1600–10; < Greek]

dichotomy

division of material into two parts for the purpose of classification. — dichotomist, n.

dichotomy

noun division, gulf, split, separation, polarity, disjunction a dichotomy between the academic world and the industrial world

Usage: Dichotomy should always refer to a division of some kind into two groups. It is sometimes used to refer to a puzzling situation, which seems to involve a contradiction, but this use is thought by many to be incorrect, and dilemma is a more appropriate alternative.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

διχοτομία

dichotomie

dicotomia

dichotomy

[dɪˈkɒtəmɪ] N → dicotomía f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

dichotomy

[daɪˈkɒtəmi] n → dichotomie f
a dichotomy between → une dichotomie entre

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

dichotomy

n → Trennung f, → Dichotomie f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

dichotomy

[dɪˈkɒtəmɪ] n (frm) → dicotomia

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

di·chot·o·my

, dichotomization

n. dicotomía, dicotomización, división en dos partes; bifurcación.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

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References in periodicals archive ?

Any secondary pupil who has endured freshman history lectures about the Alien and Sedition Acts should be well aware of the basic dichotomy between full civil rights in times of national emergency versus the most effective ways to guarantee their long-term survival.

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Despite his long professional ballet experience as a performer, choreographer, and teacher, Strate always has resisted making a strict dichotomy between ballet and modern.

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This can be described further in terms of a dichotomy for violence based on the offender's desired outcome.

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Professor Leonard further ponders whether the latest incarnation of white populists will be like earlier populists who paid lip service to anti-racism only to "secure political power on the back of black voters," or whether they "reflect a history of white intellectuals who have joined people of color in an effort to dream America anew." Now that's quite a dichotomy. It's fine and good to be wary of romanticizing earlier generations of populists or supposedly "multiracial" movements that elided questions of racial injustice.

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On this fifth release, the New York City-based trio's members--Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman, and JD Samson--are on a mission to subvert the indie versus major label dichotomy: They've cleverly attempted to remain faithful to their underground following--offering more of their typically outspoken, politically and emotionally charged DIY danceable punk--and at the same time offer a slicker, more dance floor-accessible (even radiofriendly) sound for mainsteam ears, all in one 13-track album.

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Since then it has flourished, like "ambiguity" and "dichotomy" during my college years, as a sign of the writer's intelligence.

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The English translator somewhat obscures the peril by using the word "debate" instead of what Ratzinger really means, namely "quarrel." What indeed happened between the Wars was a withdrawal into mutually exclusive camps which hardened progressively at the approach of the Vatican Council into the traditional/progressive dichotomy. On one side were those who sought to determine the form (gestalt) of the liturgy in order to conform themselves to it; on the other, the sought-after "form" elicited "reform," and the desire to conform the liturgy to themselves.

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Jordan's two-volume biography, which amplified the traditional "good duke, bad duke" dichotomy, prompted a revisionist reversal of the two stereotypes led by Barrett Beer, Michael Bush, and Dale Hoak, but none of their works focused on the King himself.