What is a dichotomy?
Dichotomy means division into two parts. It is the opposition between two things, such as love and hate.
The word has a Greek origin. arises from dichotomy, and its meaning results from the joining of dikha, which means "split in two", and atom, which means “cut part”.
Used in the vocabulary of different areas of knowledge, the best known meaning is that which concerns Philosophy.
As stated in the Houaiss Dictionary of the Portuguese language:
... in Platonic dialectics, splitting one concept into two others, ger. contraries and complementary, as they encompass the entire extent of the first (eg, human beings: men and women)."
Dichotomy Synonyms
Division, opposition, branching, separating, bifurcation.
Examples of phrases with the word dichotomy and related
Dichotomy - The dichotomy “world of ideas” and “world of senses” marked Western thought.
Dichotomies - Language and speech, meaning and signifier, synchrony and diachrony, syntagma and paradigm are dichotomies studied in Linguistics.
Dichotomous - The dichotomous reflection - body and soul - presented reveals his research work, bringing foundations for the author's argument.
Dichotomically - Dichotomically, there are two ideas in this study, the pain and pleasure of patients treated with this drug.
Dichotomize - This is the objective of the speakers: to dichotomize the discussion among the listeners.
Dichotomist -The author is a dichotomist, in that all her work is based on the opposition of realities.
Dichotomy in 4 areas of knowledge
- At Astronomy, dichotomy is the presentation of a planet when one of its halves is illuminated;
- At botany, branch of Biology who studies plants, dichotomy is the division of one cell into two, from which new cells arise;
- in philosophy, dichotomy is a concept of Platonism, which means that opposite parts complete each other;
- in theology, dichotomy is the existence of two essential elements in the constitution of the human being.