dichotomize
/dʌɪˈkɒtəmʌɪz/
dichotomize means to separate into two parts, to classify into two classes, or to categorize into two categories.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, dichotomize ranks #2,678 of 14,410 for Most Ponderous Words, #7,082 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words, #7,152 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words, #7,573 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words.
dichotomize is pronounced /dʌɪˈkɒtəmʌɪz/.
Why “dichotomize” is a great word
To split a subject, idea, or group into two sharply separate and often antithetical halves. From Ancient Greek διχότομος (dikhótomos, "cut in half") + the English suffix -ize (forming verbs). Unlike "differentiate" (which teases apart a spectrum of subtle distinctions) or "categorize" (which sorts into any number of classes), to dichotomize is to cleave with a binary axe. It is the reduction of a nuanced argument to a simple for-or-against, the surgeon separating conjoined twins, the crisp click of a switch isolating on from off—a compulsive simplification that creates a violent clarity where the excluded middle bleeds away.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek διχότομος (dikhótomos) + -ize.
verb
- To separate into two parts, to classify into two classes, or to categorize into two categories.“The apostolical benediction dichotomizes all good things into grace and peace.”
- To be divided into two.
- To exhibit as a half disk.“If the moon was a perfectly smooth sphere […] the place when she was dichotomized, […] would depend upon the sun's distance from the earth.”
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