What does "dichotomous" mean?

Dividing or branching into two mutually exclusive pieces.

What is a synonym for "dichotomous"?

Common synonyms include: all-or-nothing, apart, asunder, bilateral, bipartisan, bipartite.

Pronounced //daɪˈkɒt.ə.məs//.

//daɪˈkɒt.ə.məs// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Adjective

1
Dividing or branching into two mutually exclusive pieces. not-comparable
"Genus Riccia L. Plants are thalloid, forming rosettes or loose, dichotomous patches."

Adjective

1
divided or dividing into two sharply distinguished parts or classifications wordnet

"Genus Riccia L. Plants are thalloid, forming rosettes or loose, dichotomous patches."

From Late Latin dichotomos, from Ancient Greek διχότομος (dikhótomos, “cut in half”). By surface analysis, dichotomy + -ous.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.