Pronunciation: ' b ī -n ə - ˌ riz- ə m
Function: noun
Etymology: French binarisme
Date: 1983
: a mode of thought predicated on stable oppositions (as good and evil or male and female) that is seen in post-structuralist analysis as an inadequate approach to areas of difference also : a specific dichotomy subscribed to or reinforced in such thought <the binarism of West and East>