dichotomy
noun

- something with seemingly contradictory qualities

- if there is a dichotomy between two things, there is a very great difference or opposition between them

- division into two parts, groups, or classes, esp. when these are sharply distinguished or opposed

- (astronomy) the appearance of the moon or of a planet when half of the surface facing the earth is illuminated

- (biology) a dividing or branching into two equal parts, esp. when repeated

- (logic) the division of a class into two mutually exclusive subclasses

Merriam-Webster, Collins Dictionary, The Cambridge Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

The word “dichotomy“ has its origins in ancient Greek from dikhotomia (διχοτομία), which means “a cutting in half“ or "division into two parts”.

The Greek word is composed of two parts: dikha (δίχα) meaning “in two, asunder“ and temnein (τέμνειν) meaning "to cut”.

The word entered the English language around 1600, specifically: with the meaning “a cutting in two, division into two classes”, and in the 1630s with the meaning “state of having a dual arrangement or order“.

The word has maintained its core meaning of division or separation into two parts throughout its history, and has been applied in various fields including logic, astronomy, biology, and general usage to describe contrasts or oppositions.

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FIRE AND ICE

"Fire and Ice" is a short poem by Robert Frost that discusses the end of the world, likening the elemental force of fire with the emotion of desire, and ice with hate.

Though this was composed more than a century ago, that dichotomy between hot and cold, symbolizing desire and hatred, remains relevant today. The poem doesn’t argue for or against either, which makes it more interesting. It uses natural symbolism to illustrate the dangers of each:

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

First published in December 1920 in Harper's Magazine and later in Frost's 1923 Pulitzer Prize-winning book “New Hampshire”. "Fire and Ice" is one of Frost's best-known and most anthologized poems.

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SYNONYMS

a double-edged sword, a fork in the road, a house divided, a line in the sand, a two-sided coin, antithesis, apples and oranges, bifurcation, black and white, branching, catch-22, chasm, clash, cleavage, conflict, contradiction, contrast, counterpoint, crossroads, diametric opposition, DICHOTOMY, dilemma, disparity, divide, division, duality, either-or (proposition), fence-sitting, flip side of the coin, fork, gap, gulf, half-empty or half-full, incompatibility, Jekyll and Hyde, juxtaposition, night and day, oil and water, opposition, paradox, partition, polarity, quandary, rift, schism, separation, split, the horns of a dilemma, tug-of-war, two sides of the same coin, two-way street, yin and yang

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