dichotomy

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A separation or division into two

   A separation or division into two; a distinction that results in such a division.

   • The dichotomy between maria and highlands dominates lunar mineralogy.
2. 2

   Such a division involving apparently incompatible or opposite principles

   Such a division involving apparently incompatible or opposite principles; a duality.

3. 3

   The division of a class into two disjoint subclasses that are together comprehensive, as…

   The division of a class into two disjoint subclasses that are together comprehensive, as the division of human into female and male.

   • But in the fallacy of false dichotomy, not only do the two alternatives fail to be jointly exhaustive, but they are not even likely. As a result, the disjunctive premise is false, or at least probably false.
4. ›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      The division of a genus into two species

      The division of a genus into two species; a division into two subordinate parts.

   2. 5

      A phase of the moon when it appears half lit and half dark, for example at the…

      A phase of the moon when it appears half lit and half dark, for example at the quadratures.

      • The Ides of Januarius indeed, the preceding month, must have fallen on March 1 at midnight, two days before the first dichotomy of the mean new moon of that month, March 3 at midnight.
   3. 6

      Division and subdivision

      Division and subdivision; bifurcation, such as that of a stem of a plant or a vein of the body into two parts as it proceeds from its origin; often successive.

      • 1969, J. F. Rigby, Permian Sphenopsids from Antarctica, Geological Survey Professional Paper 613-F, page F-9, In one forked leaf there is a distinct vein dichotomy, and the leaf boundary commences 1.5 mm above the dichotomy.

The neighborhood

• neighborbifurcation
• neighborbisection
• neighbordiscretization
• neighborduality
• neighborlaw of the excluded middle
• neighborpartition