binary

Being in one of two mutually exclusive states.

Adjective

Being in one of two mutually exclusive states.
- Binary states are often represented as 1 and 0 in computer science.
- Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes...
- It's not binary. You can be decent and gifted at the same time. - 2015, Aaron Sorkin, Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs, spoken by Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen):
Concerning logic whose subject matter concerns such states.
- Near-synonym: Boolean
Synonyms: Boolean
Concerning numbers and calculations using the binary number system.
Synonyms: base-2
Having two equally important parts; related to something with two parts.
- binary star
- Two ingredients are combined in a binary poison.
- A binary statistical distribution has only two categories.
Synonyms: dyadic double twin binary dual twofold

Coordinate Terms: biune
Of an operation, function, procedure, or logic gate, taking exactly two operands, arguments, parameters, or inputs; having domain of dimension 2.
- Division of reals is a binary operation.
Of data, consisting coded values (e.g. machine code) not interpretable as plain or ASCII text (e.g. source code).
- He downloaded the binary distribution for Linux, then burned it to DVD.
Antonyms: plain text
Focusing on two mutually exclusive conditions.
- He has a very binary understanding of gender.
- Yo… you've been staring at a computer screen way too long, homie. Life's not that binary. - 2015 July 1, Sam Esmail, “eps1.1_ones-and-zer0es.mpeg”, in Mr. Robot, season 1, episode 2, spoken by Elliot Alderson:
Having or pertaining to a gender identity represented by the gender binary; either male or female.
- To further unpack trans and gender-diverse embodiment, requires one to unpack the depth of the discourse as it relates to both binary and non-binary people (Hofman, 2012). It necessitates deeper engagement as to the...
Synonyms: gender-binary

Antonyms: non-binary

Origin

From Late Latin bīnārius (“consisting of two”), from Latin bīnī (“two-by-two, pair”). By surface analysis, bin- + -ary.

Noun

A state in which only two values are possible, in which something must have one value or the other.
- The correlation between warmth and cold is an internal one where the existence of one depends on and is defined by the other. Hence, the yin-yang binary as a correlative binary of light-shade or warmth-cold [...] -...
- The “in” versus “out” of this sociological model certainly carries to the admittedly simplistic binary of “good” versus “bad” of stereotypes in fictional works and the scholarly approaches to them. - 2012, Scott L....
- As an “all-female” humanoid species not bound to the traditional forms of mating, in that they reproduce through a form of telepathic parthenogenesis, the design of the Asari collapses boundaries of sex and sexuality....
The bijective base-2 numeral system, which uses only the digits 0 and 1.
- As our initial exposure to the base 10 number system consisted of learning how to count, it also makes sense that we might begin by learning how to count in binary. - 1987, Robert W. McBeth, J. Robert Ferguson, IBM...
Synonyms: base 2
Synonym of binary file.
- Now that you have a high-level idea of what binaries look like and how they work, you're ready to dive into a real binary format. - 2018, Dennis Andriesse, Practical Binary Analysis […] , No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 31:
Synonyms: binary file

Antonyms: non-binary text file
Synonym of binary asteroid.
Synonyms: binary asteroid
Synonym of binary planet.
Synonyms: binary planet
Synonym of binary star.
- As discussed in Section 5.1, the study of the properties of planets in binaries and the search for differences between the characteristics of these objects and those of planets orbiting single stars, is crucial to the...
Synonyms: double star binary star
Synonym of binary option.
Synonyms: binary option