bifurcate

Birfurcate means to divide or fork into two branches.

Things can bifurcate on their own or in an otherwise passive way, as in That’s where the river bifurcates into two branches, or they can be bifurcated by someone, as in We bifurcated the road into two lanes so more people could exit at once. 

The word bifurcate can be used as an adjective meaning divided into two branches, but the adjective bifurcated is more commonly used in this way. The word bifurcation refers to the act of bifurcating or something that is bifurcated. These terms are most often used in technical and scientific contexts, such as engineering and medicine.

Example: The hiking trail bifurcates about three miles in, so make sure you go down the left branch.

The first records of bifurcate come from the early 1600s. It comes from the Medieval Latin bifurcātus, formed from the prefix bi-, meaning “two,” and the root furc(a), meaning “fork” (as in a fork in the road or a river).

In normal conversation, you’d say that a road or a river forks, not that it bifurcates, unless you were being technical about it. Bifurcate is used in many contexts in which structures are discussed in technical or scientific terms. Bifurcations can be found throughout nature in things like Y-shaped flowers, the tongues of snakes, even parts of the human body that fork into different channels, such as the arteries of the heart.

Bifurcate can also be used in the context of entities like organizations or governments that are split into different parts or factions. In golf, bifurcation refers to the proposal to have different equipment for professional and amateur players.

Things don’t always fork exactly in two—they can also trifurcate or furcate into multiple branches.

What are some other forms related to bifurcate?

• bifurcated (past tense verb, adjective)
• bifurcation (noun)

What are some synonyms for bifurcate?

• split
• fork
• branch
• divide

What are some words that share a root or word element with bifurcate? 

• furcate
• trifurcate
• fork

What are some words that often get used in discussing bifurcate?

• river
• road
• path
• trail
• lane
• channel
• artery
• valve

Bifurcate is usually used in technical or scientific contexts, especially biology, medicine, and engineering.

Lower Manhattan bifurcates Upper Bay into East River and Hudson River. pic.twitter.com/ZKlnM1a4Hx

— Diane (@fairliehope) March 5, 2019

The new digital cold war risks bifurcating the internet into two blocs – one led by the US and the other controlled by Chinahttps://t.co/WPpOygDlB6

— 1828 (@1828uk) September 1, 2020

“One road bifurcates in a green forest…” Robert Frost crumples up the page and starts again. And that has made all the difference. #15tt

— Jocelyn Rish (@JocelynRish) January 8, 2012

Which of the following things is likely to bifurcate?

A. a tree limb
B. an artery
C. a river
D. all of the above