bifurcation

English

Etymology

From bifurcate +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌbaɪfəˈkeɪʃən/
• (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)

• 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)
• Finnish: haarautuminen kahtia; bifurkaatio (fi)

• German: Gabelung (de) f, Verzweigung (de) f

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

• 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, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. 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

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French

Etymology

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.