Dyad

Origin

From Ancient Greek δύας, δύαδ- from Ancient Greek δύο from Ancient Greek δύο, from Proto-Indo-European *duwó,*duwéh₃ (*dwóh₁).

American Heritage 2000

Full definition of dyad

Noun

1. A set of two elements treated as one; a pair.
• 1908, W. D. Ross, S:Metaphysics/Book I, ... positing a dyad and constructing the infinite out of great and small, instead of treating the infinite as one, is peculiar to him; ...
2. (music) any set of two different pitch classes.
3. A pair of things standing in particular relation; dyadic relation.
• "For each individual in a specific dyad (i.e., mother-offspring, offspring-father, sibling-sibling),..." Debra Lieberman, John Tooby, and Leda Cosmides - The evolution of human incest avoidance mechanisms: an evolutionary psychological approach, p. 20
4. (chemistry) An element, atom, or radical having a valence or combining power of two.

Derived terms

• dyadic

Anagrams

• addy
• D-Day