The idea of dichotomy has always interested me, and its etymology reveals an essence worth exploring.
The word dichotomy comes from the Greek word dichotomia which conveys the meaning of "dividing in two", and it is actually constituted of two other words, dikha which means "in two" and temnein which means "to cut".
The root word for temnein meaning "to cut" was originally tom or tem-. Greek chose tom, which is evident in tomos "a cut, section, volume", from which we get words like tome. Latin however chose tem, from which we get words like templum "temple, beam".
Here is where it gets interesting.
The original meaning of templum was "an open, sacred place". Basically, a clearing in the woods. Once the timber is felled, for latter use as beams, you are left with a clearing or an open sacred space.
Interestingly, the Greek word temenos τέμενος is a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain, marked off from common uses and dedicated to a God, a sanctuary, or holy precinct.
Thus we find, in the etymology of dichotomy, that the sacred and the holy is to be found the necessary tension of the opposites, which are nothing less than the equal halves of an apriori whole.
The word dichotomy comes from the Greek word dichotomia which conveys the meaning of "dividing in two", and it is actually constituted of two other words, dikha which means "in two" and temnein which means "to cut".
The root word for temnein meaning "to cut" was originally tom or tem-. Greek chose tom, which is evident in tomos "a cut, section, volume", from which we get words like tome. Latin however chose tem, from which we get words like templum "temple, beam".
Here is where it gets interesting.
The original meaning of templum was "an open, sacred place". Basically, a clearing in the woods. Once the timber is felled, for latter use as beams, you are left with a clearing or an open sacred space.
Interestingly, the Greek word temenos τέμενος is a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain, marked off from common uses and dedicated to a God, a sanctuary, or holy precinct.
Thus we find, in the etymology of dichotomy, that the sacred and the holy is to be found the necessary tension of the opposites, which are nothing less than the equal halves of an apriori whole.