bifurcation

English

Etymology

From bifurcate +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌbaɪfəˈkeɪʃən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) enPR: bī'fər-kāʹshən, IPA^(key): /ˌbaɪfɚˈkeɪʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

bifurcation (countable and uncountable, plural bifurcations)

1. (biology) A division into two branches.
2. (by extension) Any place where one thing divides into two.
3. The act of bifurcating; branching or dividing in two.
4. Either of the forks or other branches resultant from such a division.
5. (geography) A place where two roads, tributaries etc. part or meet.
6. (nautical) The point where a channel divides when proceeding from seaward.
7. (mathematics) The change in the qualitative or topological structure of a given family as described by bifurcation theory.
8. (computer science) A command that executes one block or other of commands depending on the result of a condition.

Synonyms

• (division into two branches): branched, branching, forked, forking

Derived terms

• bifurcation theory
• postbifurcation
• prebifurcation

Related terms

• bifurcate
• trifurcation
• quadfurcation

Translations

biology: division into two branches

• Catalan: bifurcació (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 椏叉／桠叉 (yāchā)

• Czech: větvení n, rozdvojení n
• Dutch: vertakking (nl), tweedeling (nl), splitsing (nl) f
• Finnish: bifurkaatio (fi)
• Galician: bifurcación (gl) f, gallada f
• German: Gabelung (de), Bifurkation (de) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bifurkasjon m

  Nynorsk: bifurkasjon m

• Romanian: divizare (ro), bifurcare (ro)
• Russian: разветвле́ние (ru) n (razvetvlénije), раздвое́ние (ru) n (razdvojénije)

any place where one divides into two

• Catalan: bifurcació (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 分叉 (fan¹ caa¹)

  Mandarin: 分叉 (zh) (fēnchà)

• Dutch: vertakking (nl), bifurcatie (nl), tweesprong (nl)
• Finnish: haara (fi), haarauma, haarakohta, bifurkaatio (fi)
• German: Gabelung (de) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bifurkasjon m

  Nynorsk: bifurkasjon m

• Polish: rozgałęzienie (pl) n, rozwidlenie (pl) n, bifurkacja f
• Russian: разветвле́ние (ru) n (razvetvlénije), раздвое́ние (ru) n (razdvojénije)
• Spanish: bifurcación (es) f

either of the two resulting forks

• Dutch: vertakking (nl), tak (nl)
• Finnish: haara (fi), puoli (fi)

act of bifurcating

• Dutch: vertakking (nl), aftakking (nl), vertakken (nl), splitsen (nl)
• Finnish: haarautuminen kahtia; bifurkaatio (fi)
• German: Gabelung (de) f, Verzweigung (de) f

a place where two roads, tributaries etc. part or meet

• Dutch: splitsing (nl)
• Finnish: risteys (fi), haara (fi), tienhaara (fi)
• French: bifurcation (fr) f
• German: Weggabelung (de) f
• Polish: rozwidlenie (pl) n, bifurkacja f
• Spanish: bifurcación (es) f

mathematics

• Finnish: bifurkaatio (fi), kahdentuminen
• German: Bifurkation (de) f, Verzweigung (de) f
• Hungarian: bifurkáció (hu)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} bigëzim (sq) n
• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} разклонение (bg) (razklonenie), ^{(please verify)} раздвояване (razdvojavane)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} delning (sv) n, ^{(please verify)} klyvning (sv) n, ^{(please verify)} bifurkation (sv) n

French

Etymology

From bifurquer +‎ -tion, Medieval Latin bifurcus (“two-spronged”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

bifurcation f (plural bifurcations)

1. a bifurcation, where two roads etc. part or meet

Related terms

• bifurquer (verb)

Further reading

• “bifurcation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.