bifurcate
verb
bī-ˈfər-
Did you know?
Yogi Berra, the baseball great who was noted for his head-scratching quotes, is purported to have said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Berra's advice might not offer much help when you're making tough decisions in life, but perhaps it will help you remember bifurcate. A road that bifurcates splits in two, like the one in Berra's adage. Other things can bifurcate (or be bifurcated) as well, such as an organization that splits, or is split, into two factions. Bifurcate comes from the Latin adjective bifurcus, meaning "two-pronged," a combination of the prefix bi- ("two") and the noun furca ("fork"). Furca, as you may have guessed, is also an ancestor of fork, which refers to the handy utensil that can (in a pinch) help us—as Berra might say—to cut our pizza in four pieces when we're not hungry enough to eat six.
Examples of bifurcate in a Sentence
Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 22 June 2025
The lineup of partners for the 2025 agreement (The CW, CBS and ESPN) suggests the Pac-12 is prioritizing exposure on linear TV for its longer-term deal — a wise move given how the sport could bifurcate into upper and lower tiers in the 2030s.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Apr. 2025
For example, May 2025 has seen bitcoin achieve fresh all-time-highs even in the face of economic data suggesting the U.S. economy is slowing, continued volatility around tariff and trade headlines, and a political environment that continues to be bifurcated along party lines.
—Sean Stein Smith, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025
And most crucially, perhaps, was my nose: bare, no longer horizontally bifurcated by a ridge of black acetate.
—Alice Gregory, Vogue, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for bifurcate
Cite this Entry
“Bifurcate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bifurcate. Accessed 10 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
bifurcate
intransitive verb
bī-ˈfər-
Share