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bifurcation - 6 dictionary results

bi⋅fur⋅cate

  [v., adj. bahy-fer-keyt, bahy-fur-keyt; adj. also bahy-fer-kit, bahy-fur-] verb, -cat⋅ed, -cat⋅ing, adjective
Use bifurcation in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1. to divide or fork into two branches.
–adjective
2. divided into two branches.
Origin:
1605–15; < ML bifurcātus, ptp. of bifurcāre (bi- bi- 1 + furc(a) fork + -ātus -ate 1 )

Related forms:
bi⋅fur⋅cate⋅ly  [bahy-fer-keyt-lee; bahy-fur-keyt-lee, -kit-] , adverb
bi⋅fur⋅ca⋅tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bi·fur·cate   (bī'fər-kāt', bī-fûr'-)   
v.   bi·fur·cat·ed, bi·fur·cat·ing, bi·fur·cates

v.   tr.
To divide into two parts or branches.
v.   intr.
To separate into two parts or branches; fork.
adj.   (-kāt', -kĭt)
Forked or divided into two parts or branches, as the Y-shaped styles of certain flowers.

[Medieval Latin bifurcāre, bifurcāt-, to divide, from Latin bifurcus, two-pronged : bi-, two; see bi-1 + furca, fork.]
bi'fur·cate'ly adv., bi'fur·ca'tion n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Bifurcation

Bi`fur*ca"tion\, n. [Cf. F. bifurcation.] A forking, or division into two branches.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Bifurcation

A term used in finance that refers to a splitting of something into two separate pieces.

Investopedia Commentary

Generally, this term is used to refer to the splitting of a security into two separate pieces for the purpose of complex taxation advantages. However, it is also used to describe two divergent conditions when analyzing or evaluating market situations.

See also: Derivative, Split-Up, Synthetic

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
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bifurcation bi·fur·ca·tion (bī'fər-kā'shən)
n.
A division into two branches; a forking.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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bifurcation

(from Greek dicha, "apart," and tomos, "cutting"), a form of logical division consisting of the separation of a class into two subclasses, one of which has and the other has not a certain quality or attribute. Men thus may be divided into professional men and men who are not professionals; each of these may be subdivided similarly. On the principle of contradiction this division is both exhaustive and exclusive; there can be no overlapping, and no members of the original genus or the lower groups are omitted. This method of classification, though formally accurate, has slight value in the exact sciences, partly because at every step one of the two groups is merely negatively characterized and is usually an artificial, motley class; but it sets forth clearly the gradual descent from the most inclusive genus (summum genus) through species to the lowest class (infima species), which is divisible only into individual persons or things.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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