Word of the Day

: July 17, 2007

binary

adjective BYE-nuh-ree

What It Means

1 : compounded or consisting of or marked by two things or parts

2 a : relating to, being, or belonging to a system of numbers having 2 as its base

b : involving a choice or condition of two alternatives (as on-off or yes-no)

binary in Context

Brass is a binary alloy, having the two metallic elements copper and zinc.

Did You Know?

"The animals went in two by two, the elephant and the kangaroo. . .." It was a binary parade of sorts that went into Noah's ark "for to get out of the rain" -- the critters were represented in pairs. If you recall those partnered beasts, you'll remember the etymology of "binary," because it traces to the Latin "bini," which translates as "two by two." Although "binary" can be used for anything with two parts, it is now used especially in relation to computers and information processing. Digital computers use the binary number system, which includes only the digits 0 and 1, to process even complex data. In binary form, for instance, the word "HELLO" looks like this: 1001000 1000101 1001100 1001100 1001111.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.