dichotomous

adjective di·chot·o·mous \ dī-ˈkä-tə-məs also də- \

|Updated on: 23 Jul 2018

Definition of dichotomous

1 : dividing into two parts

2 : relating to, involving, or proceeding from dichotomy

the plant's dichotomous branching

a dichotomous approach

can't be split into dichotomous categories

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dichotomously

adverb

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dichotomousness

noun

See dichotomous defined for kids

Recent Examples of dichotomous from the Web

The world’s most stylish took a dichotomous approach to the sticky situation, choosing clothes of either such full and waft-y proportions as to barely touch the body, or dresses so tiny as to have barely anything to touch.

— edward barsamian, Vogue, "10 Best Dressed: Week of July 9, 2018," 9 July 2018
This doesn’t really represent a dichotomous shift from a black to white, A to B, or yes to no.

— jill sanford, Outside Online, "The Girl Scouts Are Getting More Adventurous," 13 June 2018
The two towns are also dichotomous economically: Both communities are struggling to understand an act of violence that tore through them, but one is rural, and one suburban, one lower-income and one wealthy.

— danielle tcholakian, Longreads, "The ‘Treasonous’ Teens Living in One Nation Under Guns," 30 May 2018
Mann poses the wizard and the prophet as dichotomous endpoints.

— mary ellen hannibal, San Francisco Chronicle, "‘The Wizard and the Prophet,’ by Charles C. Mann," 12 Jan. 2018
That moment, against a Disney-like backdrop, captured the dichotomous mood of Sin City just days after a gunman killed at least 59 people and wounded hundreds more.

— dennis wagner, USA TODAY, "Amid mix of emotions, Las Vegas Boulevard reopens after shooting," 4 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dichotomous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of dichotomous

borrowed from Late Latin dichotomos, borrowed from Greek dichótomos "cut in half, divided equally," from dicho- dicho- + -tomos, adjective derivative from the base of témnein "to cut" — more at tome

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First Known Use: 1752

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year