binary

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbaɪ.nər.i/^[1]

Etymology

It is, through Anglo-Latin, borrowed from Late Latin bīnārius (“consisting of two”),^[2][3][4] from Latin bīnī (“two at a time, two by two”),^[2][3][5] related to bis (“twice”) and duo (“two”) (see two).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Consisting of two parts, dual: before 1464 in Barnhart, the mid-15th century in Etymonline;^[2][3] the NODE gives the first sense as a pair, duality.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In music, binary measure, with two beats to a bar, is from 1597.^[7][5] A binary system of biological classification is from 1766,^[7] binary stars, two stars orbiting each other, from 1802,^[2][3][7] and a chemical compound of two elements from 1812.^[7] A binary number is from before 1796,^[2] and the binary digit, or bit, from 1946.^[2] Its use in computing for the two-digit number system is the main modern sense.^[8][9]

Timeline

• before 1464 – dual, twofold.^[2]
• 1597 – binary measure (music).^[7]
• before 1796 – binary number.^[2]
• 1802 – binary star.^[2][3]
• 1946 – binary digit.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Consisting of or involving two parts; dual.
2. (mathematics, computing) Of or expressed in the number system with base 2, using only 0 and 1.
3. (chemistry) Of a compound, made of two elements.

Noun

1. Something binary, especially a binary star.

Word family

• binary code
• binary digit
• binary fission
• binary operation
• binary pulsar
• binary star
• binary system
• contact binary

Related words

• binarity
• binarism
• two
• combine
• bi-
• bit

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins