[v., adj. bahy-fer-keyt, bahy-fur-keyt; adj. also bahy-fer-kit, bahy-fur-] 
verb, -cat⋅ed, -cat⋅ing, adjective | 1. | to divide or fork into two branches. |
| 2. | divided into two branches. |
| 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. |
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
bifurcate bi·fur·cate (bī'fər-kāt', bī-fûr'-)
v. bi·fur·cat·ed, bi·fur·cat·ing, bi·fur·cates
To divide into two parts or branches. adj. (-kāt', -kĭt)
Forked or divided into two parts or branches.
bifurcation bi·fur·ca·tion (bī'fər-kā'shən)
n.
A division into two branches; a forking.
| bifurcate (bī'fər-kāt', bī-fûr'-) Pronunciation Key
Forked or divided into two parts or branches, as the Y-shaped styles of certain flowers or the tongues of snakes. |
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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fərˌkeɪt