The word for today is…
dichotomy (noun) -
1a: division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or parts
b: differentiation into two contrasted or sharply opposed groups
2: something with seemingly contradictory qualities
3 astronomy : the phase of the moon or of an inferior planet (such as Mercury or Venus) in which half its disk appears illuminated
4 biology a: bifurcation, especially : repeated bifurcation (as of a plant's stem)
b: a system of branching in which the main axis forks repeatedly into two branches
c: branching of an ancestral line into two diverging branches
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : The two most commonly used senses of dichotomy are easily (and often) confused. The older one refers to the division of something into two groups that often are mutually exclusive or contradictory (as in “the dichotomy between good and evil”). Like trichotomy (meaning “division into three parts”), this sense denotes separation into different elements, but it adds the connotation of oppositeness. The newer sense of dichotomy denotes a thing that appears to have contradictory qualities, such as a lemonade stand found in a war zone. Dichotomy is frequently found in the company of the word false; a false dichotomy is a kind of fallacy in which one is given only two choices when in fact other options are available.
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