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bifurcate

[verb, adjective bahy-fer-keyt, bahy-fur-keyt; adjective bahy-fer-kit, bahy-fur-]
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verb (used with or without object), bi·fur·cat·ed, bi·fur·cat·ing.
  1. to divide or fork into two branches.
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adjective
  1. divided into two branches.
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Origin of bifurcate

1605–15; < Medieval Latin bifurcātus, past participle of bifurcāre (bi- bi-1 + furc(a) fork + -ātus -ate1)
Related formsbi·fur·cate·ly [bahy-fer-keyt-lee; bahy-fur-keyt-lee, -kit-] /ˌbaɪ fərˈkeɪt li; baɪˈfɜr keɪt li, -kɪt-/, adverbbi·fur·ca·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bifurcated

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Does not the sex that is bifurcated by day keep by night to its manly bifurcation?

    Journeys to Bagdad

    Charles S. Brooks

  • She preserves the different tendencies that have bifurcated with their growth.

    Creative Evolution

    Henri Bergson

  • They soon looked like a bifurcated dishrag, and taking them off, he threw them away.

  • The ribs are short structures with bifurcated proximal ends.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton

    Sidney H. Reynolds

  • All he had done was to risk a harmless jest: So then, my friends, you are to be bifurcated!

    Two banks of the Seine

    Fernand Vandrem

British Dictionary definitions for bifurcated

bifurcate

verb (ˈbaɪfəˌkeɪt)
  1. to fork or divide into two parts or branches
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adjective (ɪbaɪˈfəˌkeɪt, -kɪt)
  1. forked or divided into two sections or branches
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Derived Formsbifurcation, noun

Word Origin

C17: from Medieval Latin bifurcātus, from Latin bifurcus, from bi- 1 + furca fork
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bifurcated

bifurcate

v.

1610s, from Medieval Latin bifurcatus, from Latin bi- (see bi-) + furca, the root of fork. Related: Bifurcated; bifurcating.

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bifurcate

adj.

1835, from Medieval Latin bifurcatus, from Latin bi- (see bi-) + furca, the root of fork (n.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
bifurcated in Medicine

bifurcate

(bī′fər-kāt′, bī-fûr′-)
v.
  1. To divide into two parts or branches.
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adj.
  1. Forked or divided into two parts or branches.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
bifurcated in Science

bifurcate

[bī′fər-kāt′, bī-fûr′-]
  1. Forked or divided into two parts or branches, as the Y-shaped styles of certain flowers or the tongues of snakes.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.