Definition of Dichotomy
(noun) Two opposing parts; a distinct division.
Examples of Dichotomy
- black/white
- function/dysfunction
- good/evil
- male/female
- object/subject
Dichotomy Pronunciation
Syllabification: di·chot·o·my
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /die-kAHt-uh-mee/
- British English – /die-kOt-uh-mee/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /daɪˈkɑdəmi/
- British English – /dʌɪˈkɒtəmi/
Usage Notes
- Plural: dichotomies
- Similarly, a trichotomy describes the same relationship into three parts and multichotomy describes it in three or more parts.
- An idea is divided into two parts by (verb) dichotomizing through (noun) dichotomization, creating a (adjective) dichotomous or (adjective) dichotomic relationship.
Additional Information
- Word origin of “dichotomy” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Hendry, Joy, and Heung Wah Wong, eds. 2006. Dismantling the East–West Dichotomy. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
- Parsons, Keith M., ed. 2003. The Science Wars. Amherst, New York: Prometheus.
- Snow, C. P. 1959. The Two Cultures: and a Second Look: An Expanded Version of The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: New American Library.
- Tannen, Deborah. 1998. The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue. New York: Random House.
Related Terms
Works Consulted
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged. 6th ed. 2003. Glasgow, Scotland: Collins.
Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
O’Leary, Zina. 2007. The Social Science Jargon Buster: The Key Terms You Need to Know. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).
Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Dichotomy
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “dichotomy.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 1, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/dichotomy/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
dichotomy. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/dichotomy/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “dichotomy.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/dichotomy/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“dichotomy.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/dichotomy/>.