Meanings
adjectivetrichotomous (not comparable)
- not comparableDivided into three parts, or into threes; forking three ways.
a trichotomous stem
1793, Thomas Martyn, The Language of Botany - not comparablemathematicsSuch that, for all x and y in X, and for a binary relation R, exactly one of xRy, yRx or x=y holds.
> is a trichotomous relation, while the relation "divides" over the natural numbers is not.
Origin
From trichotomy + -ous. Modelled on dichotomous.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
trichotomous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trichotomous
MLA
“trichotomous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trichotomous. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trichotomous,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trichotomous.
Source: trichotomous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.