binary

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈbaɪnəri/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈbaɪnəri, -nɛri/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(bī′nə rē, -ner ē)

Inflections of 'binary' (n): npl: binaries

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
bi•na•ry /ˈbaɪnəri, -nɛri/USA pronunciation   adj., n., pl. -ries. 
adj. 
  1. consisting of or involving two parts or things.
  2. Mathematicsof or relating to a system of numbers called base 2, in which the only numbers that can be used are 0 and 1.
  3. Chemistryreferring to a chemical compound containing only two elements or groups, as sodium chloride.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
bi•na•ry  (bī′nə rē, -ner ē),USA pronunciation adj., n., pl. -ries. 
adj. 
  1. consisting of, indicating, or involving two.
  2. Mathematics
    • Mathematicsof or pertaining to a system of numerical notation to the base 2, in which each place of a number, expressed as 0 or 1, corresponds to a power of 2. The decimal number 58 appears as 111010 in binary notation, since 58 = 1 × 25 + 1 × 24 + 1 × 23 + 0 × 22 + 1 × 21 + 0 × 20.
    • of or pertaining to the digits or numbers used in binary notation.
    • of or pertaining to a binary system.
    • Mathematics(of an operation) assigning a third quantity to two given quantities, as in the addition of two numbers.
  3. Chemistrynoting a compound containing only two elements or groups, as sodium chloride, methyl bromide, or methyl hydroxide.
  4. Metallurgy(of an alloy) having two principal constituents.

n. 
  1. a whole composed of two.
  2. AstronomySee binary star. 
  3. MathematicsAlso called bi′nary num′ber. a number expressed in the binary system of notation.
  • Late Latin bīnārius, equivalent. to bīn(ī) (see bin-) + -ārius -ary
  • Middle English 1350–1400

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
binary /ˈbaɪnərɪ/ adj
  1. composed of, relating to, or involving two; dual
  2. of, relating to, or expressed in binary notation or binary code
  3. (of a compound or molecule) containing atoms of two different elements
 n ( pl -ries)
  1. something composed of two parts or things
  2. See binary star
  3. short for binary weapon
Etymology: 16th Century: from Late Latin bīnārius; see bin-
'binary' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
base - binary code - binary notation - binary number - binary star - binary weapon - bit - busbar - carbide - character - code - dark star - digital computer - dyadic - EBCDIC - eclipsing binary - equivalence - field - halide - Herschel - hexadecimal - -ide - inversion - machine code - nova - numeral - ring - set - Sirius - storage device - two - -uret - variable star - X-ray binary - accretion disk - Algol - anticommutative - antimonide - apastron - astrometric binary - BCD - bin - binarity - binary cell - binary-coded decimal system - binary color - binary digit - binary fission - binary form - binary operation

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