dyad

noun

dy·​ad ˈdī-ˌad How to pronounce dyad (audio)
-əd
1
: pair
specifically, sociology : two individuals (such as husband and wife) maintaining a sociologically significant relationship
2
genetics : a meiotic chromosome after separation of the two homologous (see homologous sense 1a(2)) members of a tetrad
3
mathematics : an operator (see operator sense 3a) indicated by writing the symbols of two vectors (see vector entry 1 sense 1a) without a dot or cross between
In the equation D = AB, AB is a dyad.
dyadic adjective
dyadically adverb

Example Sentences

the book examines the doctor-patient dyad from several perspectives
Recent Examples on the Web Regardless of dyad type, participants who were touched consumed more alcohol than participants who were not touched. Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 20 Apr. 2012 Because the data for each pair are interdependent, the data were analyzed at the level of the dyad. Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 6 Aug. 2012 Interpersonal gazing in dyads, when the two individuals in the dyad stare at each other in the eyes, is investigated in 20 healthy young individuals at low illumination for 10-min. Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 25 Aug. 2015 Sometimes the other half of a Pecknoldian dyad isn’t even another person but a different version of the speaker himself. Brandon Taylor, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2022 In the later songs, the dyad is more abstractly the speaker and himself, and the lyrics take on a more rhetorical resonance. Brandon Taylor, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2022 Parenthood is, to me, a dyad that creates the most complex and fascinating spectrum of emotion in a person’s life. John Hopewell, Variety, 15 Oct. 2022 The implosion of another important health care dyad — clinicians and C-suite administrators — has received much less attention, despite the fact that those relationships are on life support. Christine Bechtel, STAT, 28 July 2022 Caregivers and infants are really a dyad—their outcomes and health play into each other’s, Clayton Shuman, a maternal-infant-health researcher at the University of Michigan, told me. Katharine Gammon, The Atlantic, 18 Feb. 2022 See More

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

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin dyad-, dyas, from Greek, from dyo — see dy-

First Known Use

1675, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of dyad was in 1675

Dictionary Entries Near dyad

Cite this Entry

“Dyad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dyad. Accessed 27 Mar. 2023.

Medical Definition

dyad

noun
dy·​ad
variants also diad
1
: two individuals (as husband and wife) maintaining a sociologically significant relationship
2
: a meiotic chromosome after separation of the two homologous members of a tetrad
dyadic adjective
dyadically adverb

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