bifurcated

English

Etymology

From verb bifurcate, from Medieval Latin bifurcatus, past participle of bifurcare, from Latin bifurcus (“two-pronged”), from bi- + furca (“fork”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪfəɹˌkeɪtɪd/

• Audio (Southern England):

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Adjective

bifurcated (not comparable)

1. Divided into two branches.

   Synonym: twiforked (obsolete, poetic)

   Antonyms: nonbifurcated, unbifurcated, undivided

   Coordinate terms: trifurcated (3), quadrifurcated (4), multifurcated

   Near-synonyms: bifid, bipartite, bilobar, bilobular, split, forked

   • 1994, M. Lindsey Kaplan, Katherine Eggert, ““Good queen, my lord, good queen” - Sexual Slander and the Trials of Female Authority in “The Winter's Tale””, in Renaissance Drama‎^[1], volume 25, →DOI, page 91 of 89–118:

     Elizabeth's disturbing presentation of herself as both virginal and sexual bifurcated after her death into opinion about whether she was virginal or sexual, so that on the one hand Elizabeth was apotheosized as the saint who through her refusal to marry had kept England Protestant and free, while on the other hand she was still the object of detraction by persons such as “one Sheapheard, a barrister of Lincolns Inn, [and] a base Jesuited papist,” who during James I's reign uttered ”base and scandalous” words regarding the late queen's honor.

Derived terms

• bifurcated divorce
• bifurcatedly

Translations

Divided into two branches — see also bipartite

• Finnish: kahtiajakautunut
• German: zweigeteilt (de), zweiästig, zweigleisig (de)

Verb

bifurcated

1. simple past and past participle of bifurcate