noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/daɪˈkɒtəmi/
Received-Pronunciation:/dɪ-/
Atlantic-Canada, General-American:/daɪˈkɑtəmi/
Atlantic-Canada, General-American:[-ɾə-]
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada, dialectal:/daɪˈkɒt.ə.mi/of the US
Canada, dialectal:[daɪˈkɒɾ.ə.mi]of the US
Australian:/dɑeˈkɔt.ə.mi/
Australian:[dɑe̯ˈkɔɾ.ə.mi]
QueenslandRecorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
New-Zealand:/daɪˈkɒt.ə.mi/
New-Zealand:[dɑe̯ˈkɔ̟ɾ.ə.mi]
rhymes with -ɒtəmi
CMU ARPABET:D AY0 K AA1 T AH0 M IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A separation or division into two; a distinction that results in such a division.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Such a division involving apparently incompatible or opposite principles; a duality.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The division of a class into two disjoint subclasses that are together comprehensive, as the division of human into female and male.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
2011, Tomasz A. Gorarzd, Jacek Krzaczkowski, The Complexity of Problems Connected with Two-Element Algebras, Paweł M. Idziak, Andrzej Wronski, Reports on Mathematical Logic: No. 46, page 92, One can ask if for any algebra the considered problem is always in P or NP-complete (P or coNP-complete)? For example, the problem of the satisfiability of a system of polynomial equations over a group G is in P if G is abelian and NP-complete otherwise ([7, 13]). One of the most widely known subclasses of NP which exhibits such a dichotomy, is the class of constraint satisfaction problems (CSP) on the set {0,1}, see [16]. Recently Bulatov proved the dichotomy for CSP on a three-element set [3].
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
The division of a genus into two species; a division into two subordinate parts.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: biology, natural-sciences, taxonomy
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A phase of the moon when it appears half lit and half dark, for example at the quadratures.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
Division and subdivision; bifurcation, such as that of a stem of a plant or a vein of the body into two parts as it proceeds from its origin; often successive.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences
Examples
1969, J. F. Rigby, Permian Sphenopsids from Antarctica, Geological Survey Professional Paper 613-F, page F-9, In one forked leaf there is a distinct vein dichotomy, and the leaf boundary commences 1.5 mm above the dichotomy.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
being twofold; a classification into two opposed parts or subclasses
