overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

binary.

Being in one of two mutually exclusive states.

6 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈbaɪ.nə.ɹɪ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbaɪ.nə.ɹi/General-American/ˈbaɪ.nɛɹ.i/General-American
  1. Being in one of two mutually exclusive states.

    Binary states are often represented as 1 and 0 in computer science.
  2. Concerning logic whose subject matter concerns such states.

  3. Concerning numbers and calculations using the binary number system.

  4. Having two equally important parts; related to something with two parts.

    binary star
    Two ingredients are combined in a binary poison.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Focusing on two mutually exclusive conditions.

    comparable
    He has a very binary understanding of gender.
  8. Having or pertaining to a gender identity represented by the gender binary; either male or female.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *dwís Proto-Italic *dwis Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *dwiznos Latin bīnus Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -ārius Late Latin bīnāriuslbor. Middle English binarie English binary Inherited from Middle English binarie. By surface analysis, bin- + -ary.

noun/ˈbaɪ.nə.ɹɪ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbaɪ.nə.ɹi/General-American/ˈbaɪ.nɛɹ.i/General-American
  1. A state in which only two values are possible, in which something must have one value or the other.

    countable · uncountable
  2. The bijective base-2 numeral system, which uses only the digits 0 and 1.

    uncountable
  3. Ellipsis of binary file.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis · uncountable
  4. Ellipsis of binary asteroid.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis · uncountable
  5. Ellipsis of binary planet.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis · uncountable
  6. Ellipsis of binary star.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis · uncountable
  7. Ellipsis of binary option.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *dwís Proto-Italic *dwis Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *dwiznos Latin bīnus Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -ārius Late Latin bīnāriuslbor. Middle English binarie English binary Inherited from Middle English binarie. By surface analysis, bin- + -ary.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

binary has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

binary studiobinary workshello, binary

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.