Meanings
- not comparableDividing or branching into two mutually exclusive pieces.
Genus Riccia L. Plants are thalloid, forming rosettes or loose, dichotomous patches.
1992, Marie L. Hicks, Guide to the Liverworts of North Carolina, page 1971 more example
The second half of the book switches to the increasingly dark story of how, from the 17th century onwards, European thinkers and politicians constructed a more and more dichotomous worldview.
2023 February 23, Fara Dabhoiwala, “The West by Naoíse Mac Sweeney review – history rediscovered”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivedivided or dividing into two sharply distinguished parts or classifications
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekδιχότομος“cut in half”
- Late Latindichotomos
- Englishdichotomous
From Late Latin dichotomos, from Ancient Greek διχότομος (dikhótomos, “cut in half”). By surface analysis, dichotomy + -ous.
More words from Late Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan dicotòmic
- dicotòmicdividing or branching into two pieces
Danish dikotomisk
- dikotomiskdividing or branching into two pieces
Finnish kaksijakoinen, dikotominen
- kaksijakoinendividing or branching into two pieces
- dikotominendividing or branching into two pieces
German dichotom
- dichotomdividing or branching into two pieces
Latin dichotomos
- dichotomosdividing or branching into two pieces
Norwegian Bokmål dikotom
- dikotomdividing or branching into two pieces
Polish dwudzielny, dychotomiczny
- dwudzielnydividing or branching into two pieces
- dychotomicznydividing or branching into two pieces
Spanish dicótomo
- dicótomodividing or branching into two pieces
Cite this entry
dichotomous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dichotomous
“dichotomous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dichotomous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dichotomous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dichotomous.
Source: dichotomous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.