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octal

 - 4 dictionary results

oc⋅tal

  [ok-tl]
Use octal in a Sentence
–adjective
1. Also, octonary. of or pertaining to the number system with base 8, employing the numerals 0 through 7.
2. relating to or encoded in an octal system, especially for use by a digital computer.
3. (of an electronic device) having eight pins in its base for electrical connections.
–noun
4. octonary (def. 6).
Origin:
1935–40; oct- + -al 1

oc⋅to⋅nar⋅y

  [ok-tuh-ner-ee] adjective, noun, plural -nar⋅ies.
–adjective
1. pertaining to the number 8.
2. consisting of eight.
3. proceeding by eight.
4. octal (def. 1).
–noun
5. a group of eight; an ogdoad.
6. Also, octal. Prosody. a stanza of eight lines.
7. a number in an octonary system.
Origin:
1525–35; < L octōnārius consisting of eight, equiv. to octōn(ī) eight each + -ārius -ary
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To octal
oc·tal   (ŏk'təl)   
adj.  Of, relating to, or based on the number eight: an octal number system.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Computing Dictionary

octal mathematics
Base 8. A number representation using the digits 0-7 only, with the right-most digit counting ones, the next counting multiples of 8, then 8^2 = 64, etc. For example, octal 177 is digital 127:
digit weight value 1 8^2 = 64 1* 64 = 64 7 8^1 = 8 7* 8 = 56 7 8^0 = 1 7* 1 = 7 --- 127
Octal system used to be widespread back when many computers used 6-bit bytes, as a 6-bit byte can be conveniently written as a two-digit octal number. Since nowadays a byte is almost always 8-bit long the octal system lost most of its appeal to the hexadecimal system.
For a brief discussion on the word `octal' see hexadecimal.
(1997-06-16)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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