trichotomous

English

Etymology

trichotomy +‎ -ous?

Adjective

trichotomous (not comparable)

1. Divided into three parts, or into threes; forking three ways.
   • (Can we date this quote by Martyn and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     a trichotomous stem

2. (set theory) Such that, for all x and y in X, and for a binary relation R, exactly one of xRy, yRx or x=y holds.

   > is a trichotomous relation, while the relation "divides" over the natural numbers is not.