dichotomy

(dī-kŏt'ə-mē) pronunciation

n., pl. -mies.

Division into two usually contradictory parts or opinions: “the dichotomy of the one and the many” (Louis Auchincloss).
Astronomy. The phase of the moon, Mercury, or Venus when half of the disk is illuminated.
Botany. Branching characterized by successive forking into two approximately equal divisions.

[Greek dikhotomiā, from dikhotomos, divided in two : dikho-, dicho- + temnein, to cut.]

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Philosophy Dictionary: dichotomy

A division into two.

Word Tutor: dichotomy

IN BRIEF: A division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups.

The dichotomy of their opinions is as severe as black and white.

Wikipedia: dichotomy

Traditionally Dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts. This covers the symmetric form of dichotomy - but there is also the asymmetric form covered in bifurcation where one element has emerged from the other. This is NOT restricted to botany - it in fact covers the properties of the human brain as it aquires information by self-referencing the asymmetric dichotomy of differentiate/integrate.

False dichotomy, a logical fallacy where a supposed dichotomy fails one or both of these conditions
Classical dichotomy, the division between the real side of an economy and the monetary side
In set theory, a dichotomous relation R is such that either aRb, bRa or both.
In biology, a dichotomous key divides a set of organisms into two groups smaller groups, typically based on a single characteristic present in exactly one of the groups
In botany, a mode of branching by repeated bifurcation
Mind-body dichotomy, the belief that humans consist of a soul and a body
Dichotomy is a method of execution wherein the victim is cut in two.
Divine Dichotomy, as mentioned in Conversations With God.
Domestic-public dichotomy, a division of men's and women's roles in a society

		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Philosophy Dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
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		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Dichotomy". Read more
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