# binary

Pronunciation: US say "BY-nuh-ree" /ˈbaɪ.nə.ɹi/; UK say "BY-nuh-ri" /ˈbaɪ.nə.ɹɪ/

## Noun

1. The base-2 numeral system, in which every number is written using only the digits 0 and 1.
   - Simple: A way of writing numbers using only the digits 0 and 1.
   - _Students usually learn to convert numbers from decimal to binary before they study machine code._
   - _Inside the chip, every instruction and value is ultimately stored in binary._
4. A situation or scheme that allows only two possible values, so that everything must take one or the other.
   - Simple: A way of sorting things where there are only two choices, and everything must be one of them.
   - _The novel refuses the familiar binary of good versus evil._
   - _Her essays question the binaries that shape how we think about work and leisure._
8. A computer file of coded data, such as machine code, that cannot be read as plain text; also called a binary file.
   - Simple: A computer file, such as a ready-to-run program, that holds code instead of normal text.
   - _Security researchers took the binary apart to learn what the malware was doing._
   - _The project publishes signed binaries for Windows, macOS, and Linux._
9. A system of two stars that orbit each other, held together by gravity; also called a binary star.
   - Simple: Two stars that move around each other in space.
   - _Several of the newly found planets belong to binaries rather than to lone stars._
   - _The fainter star in the binary regularly passes in front of its brighter companion, dimming the light we see._
13. An option contract whose payout is all or nothing, depending on whether a stated condition is met when it expires; also called a binary option.
   - Simple: A kind of trade that pays a set amount or nothing, depending on a price at a set time.
   - _Regulators banned the sale of binaries to ordinary investors._
   - _The trader bought a binary that would pay out only if the euro closed above a set level._
14. A pair of asteroids that orbit each other; also called a binary asteroid.
   - Simple: Two space rocks that move around each other.
   - _Radar images showed that the near-Earth asteroid was a binary, with a small moonlet circling the main body._
   - _By timing the eclipses in the binary, observers worked out the mass of each asteroid._
15. A pair of planets that orbit each other; also called a binary planet.
   - Simple: Two planets that move around each other as a pair.
   - _If the two worlds were closer in size, astronomers would classify them as a binary rather than a planet with a moon._
   - _Could a binary of two Earth-sized planets support life on both worlds?_

## Adjective

2. Being in one or the other of two mutually exclusive states, with nothing in between.
   - Simple: Having only two possible states, so it must be one or the other, never both.
   - _Each memory cell holds a binary state, which the chip reads as either 1 or 0._
   - _The choice isn't binary: we can fix the old roof now and replace it in a few years._
3. Relating to numbers expressed, or calculations carried out, in base 2, which uses only the digits 0 and 1.
   - Simple: Having to do with numbers written, or math done, using only 0 and 1.
   - _Binary arithmetic follows the same rules as decimal arithmetic, except that you carry whenever a column reaches two._
   - _Every positive whole number has a unique binary representation._
5. Concentrating on two mutually exclusive conditions, as in a way of seeing or describing something.
   - Simple: Looking at something in terms of just two choices that cannot go together.
   - _Her approach to food is strikingly binary: every dish is either clean or forbidden._
   - _The survey's binary framing left no room for people with mixed feelings._
6. Having, or relating to, a gender identity that falls within the two categories of male and female.
   - Simple: Having a gender identity that is either male or female.
   - _The study compared the experiences of binary and non-binary transgender people._
   - _Many of the transgender respondents described their identities as binary._
7. Of data, made up of coded values, such as machine code, that cannot be read as plain or ASCII text the way source code can.
   - Simple: Of computer data, stored as code that people cannot read as normal text.
   - _The vendor ships only binary packages and keeps the source code private._
   - _Images and audio are stored in binary formats that a text editor cannot display._
10. Made up of two equally important parts, or relating to something that has two parts.
   - Simple: Made of two parts that matter equally, or having to do with something with two parts.
   - _In a binary poison, two harmless ingredients are stored apart and combined only when needed._
   - _Many baroque dances are written in binary form, with two halves that are each repeated._
11. Of an operation, function, procedure, or logic gate, taking exactly two operands, arguments, parameters, or inputs.
   - Simple: Of a math operation or computer function, using exactly two inputs.
   - _Multiplication of integers is a binary operation that is both associative and commutative._
   - _The library provides a binary function that takes two strings and returns the longer one._
12. Relating to logic that deals with two mutually exclusive states, such as true and false.
   - Simple: Having to do with logic in which things can only be true or false.
   - _Binary logic underlies every circuit in a digital computer._
   - _Vague words like tall strain binary logic, which allows no borderline cases._

## Origin

From Late Latin bīnārius (“consisting of two”), which comes from Latin bīnī (“two by two, a pair”). By surface analysis it can also be seen as bin- + -ary.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/binary (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).