Meaning & use
bifurcation
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A split of something into two branches or parts, or the point where it divides.
Grammar: Countable for a particular split (a bifurcation in the road), uncountable for the process.
Patterns
- a bifurcation in something
- the bifurcation of something
The river's bifurcation created two channels around the island.
Drivers must choose a lane at the bifurcation of the highway.
The bifurcation of the artery was clear on the scan.
nouncountable or uncountableformal
A division of a group, system or idea into two sharply different or opposed parts.
Grammar: Used in social and political writing: the bifurcation of society into rich and poor.
Patterns
- the bifurcation of something into two groups
- a bifurcation between A and B
Writers describe a bifurcation of the labor market into high-paid and low-paid jobs.
The bifurcation of the party led to two rival conferences.
Critics warned of a bifurcation between cities and rural areas.
nouncountablemathematicstechnical
In mathematics, a point where a small change in a system's setting causes its behavior to change qualitatively, often by splitting into two possible states.
Grammar: A technical term: a bifurcation point in a dynamical system.
Patterns
- a bifurcation point
- a bifurcation in the system
The model shows a bifurcation when the temperature crosses a critical value.
Students plotted the bifurcation diagram of the equation.
A single bifurcation turned the stable system into a chaotic one.
Word forms
| plural | bifurcations |
|---|
Common combinations
- bifurcation point
- The path reaches a bifurcation point after a mile.
- bifurcation of the road
- A sign marked the bifurcation of the road.
- bifurcation of society
- The article warns of a bifurcation of society.
- artery bifurcation
- The surgeon repaired the artery bifurcation near the neck.
- bifurcation diagram
- The bifurcation diagram shows how the system changes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fork
- Fork is the everyday word for a split in a road or river, while bifurcation sounds scientific or formal.
- split
- Split can divide into any number of parts and is informal, whereas bifurcation always means exactly two.
- division
- Division is a general word for separating something into parts, with no limit of two.
- branching
- Branching can produce many branches, whereas bifurcation is limited to two.
Opposites
Word family
- bifurcate verb
- to divide into two branches
- bifurcated adjective
- divided into two branches or parts
- furcate verb
- to fork; a rare word
- trifurcation noun
- a division into three branches
Commonly confused: bifurcation or bisection? bifurcation or fornication?
bifurcation vs bisection
Bisection means cutting something into two equal parts, while bifurcation means dividing into two branches that may be unequal.
bifurcation vs fornication
The two sound a little alike, but fornication is an unrelated word about sex outside marriage.
Practice
Which situation is the best example of a bifurcation?
Choose one answer.
Bifurcation is a split into two branches, as in a river dividing. Two streams joining is the opposite, and the other options involve no splitting.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bifurcation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.