of 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.
b.
of or pertaining to the digits or numbers used in binary notation.
c.
of or pertaining to a binary system.
d.
(of an operation) assigning a third quantity to two given quantities, as in the addition of two numbers.
3.
Chemistry. noting 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.
of or pertaining to a number system have 2 as its base; "a binary digit"
2.
consisting of two (units or components or elements or terms); "a binary star is a system in which two stars revolve around each other"; "a binary compound"; "the binary number system has two as its base"
noun
1.
a system of two stars that revolve around each other under their mutual gravitation [syn: binary star]
2.
a pre-compiled, pre-linked program that is ready to run under a given operating system; a binary for one operating system will not run on a different operating system; "the same source code can be compiled to produce different binaries for different operating systems"
Anything composed of two parts. In modern computers, information is stored in banks of components that act like switches. Since switches can be either on or off, they have a binary character, and we say that the computer uses “binary arithmetic” to do its work.
binary 1. Base two. A number representation consisting of zeros and ones used by practically all computers because of its ease of implementation using digital electronics and Boolean algebra. 2. binary file. 3. A description of an operator which takes two arguments. See also unary, ternary. (2005-02-21)
Bi"na*ry\, a. [L. binarius, fr. bini two by two, two at a time, fr. root of bis twice; akin to E. two: cf. F. binaire.] Compounded or consisting of two things or parts; characterized by two (things). Binary arithmetic, that in which numbers are expressed according to the binary scale, or in which two figures only, 0 and 1, are used, in lieu of ten; the cipher multiplying everything by two, as in common arithmetic by ten. Thus, 1 is one; 10 is two; 11 is three; 100 is four, etc. --Davies & Peck. Binary compound (Chem.), a compound of two elements, or of an element and a compound performing the function of an element, or of two compounds performing the function of elements. Binary logarithms, a system of logarithms devised by Euler for facilitating musical calculations, in which 1 is the logarithm of 2, instead of 10, as in the common logarithms, and the modulus 1.442695 instead of .43429448. Binary measure (Mus.), measure divisible by two or four; common time. Binary nomenclature (Nat. Hist.), nomenclature in which the names designate both genus and species. Binary scale (Arith.), a uniform scale of notation whose ratio is two. Binary star (Astron.), a double star whose members have a revolution round their common center of gravity. Binary theory (Chem.), the theory that all chemical compounds consist of two constituents of opposite and unlike qualities.
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Audio Help [bahy-nuh-ree, -ner-ee] Pronunciation Key adjective, noun, plural -ries. 
