Bi"na*ry , n. That which is
constituted of two figures,
things, or parts; two; duality. Fotherby.
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.
Hear it pronounced