Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “dichotomy” come from?

Dichotomy comes from Ancient Greek διχοτομία, composed of Ancient Greek elements meaning "divided into two parts."

dichotomy (English): A separation or division into two; a distinction...

Definitions

  1. A separation or division into two; a distinction...

Ancestry of “dichotomy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ancient Greekδιχοτομίαdividing in two; bisection, point of bisection;...
2Ancient Greekδιχότομοςcut in half, equally divided
3Ancient GreekτέμνωI cut, hew; I maim, wound; I butcher, sacrifice
4Proto-Indo-European-né-Forms mostly transitive imperfective verbs from...

Words derived from “dichotomy”

  • dichotomic
  • dichotomist
  • subdichotomy
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -né- →