Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 1, 2023 is: bifurcate \BYE-fer-kayt\ verb

When something bifurcates, it divides into two branches or parts; to bifurcate something is to divide it into two branches or parts.

// The stream bifurcated into two narrow winding channels.

// When a highway bifurcates a forest, it also splits the habitats of animal populations that may have a difficult time making it across safely to the other side.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bifurcate)

Examples:

"Over time, the English ... became more powerful, spreading from Virginia to Maryland to Carolina (not yet bifurcated) ..." — Scott W. Stern, The New Republic, 26 June 2023

Did you know?

Yogi Berra, the baseball great who was noted for his head-scratching quotes, is purported to have said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Berra's advice might not offer much help when you're making tough decisions in life, but perhaps it will help you remember bifurcate. A road that bifurcates splits in two, like the one in Berra's [adage](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adage). Other things can bifurcate (or be bifurcated) as well, such as an organization that splits, or is split, into two factions. Bifurcate comes from the Latin adjective bifurcus, meaning "two-pronged," a combination of the prefix bi- ("two") and the noun furca ("fork"). Furca, as you may have guessed, is also an ancestor of [fork](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fork), which refers to the handy utensil that can (in a pinch) help us—as Berra might say—to cut our pizza in four pieces when we're not hungry enough to eat six.