dicotomía

dichotomy

noun dee-koh-toh-MEE-ah Rare

Origin: From Greek dikhotomia, from dikha (in two) and temnein (to cut).

Usage Note

Dicotomía is used in academic and journalistic Spanish to describe a division into two mutually exclusive categories. The written accent on the i (making -mí- a stressed syllable) is essential — omitting it is a common spelling error. The related adjective is dicotómico. In everyday speech Spaniards might instead say división or diferencia for the same idea.

Examples

"Hay una dicotomía entre teoría y práctica."

Natural Translation

There is a dichotomy between theory and practice.

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