trichotomous

English

Etymology

From trichotomy +‎ -ous. Modelled on dichotomous.

Adjective

trichotomous (not comparable)

1. Divided into three parts, or into threes; forking three ways.
   • 1793, Thomas Martyn, The Language of Botany:

     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.