binary

binary [Lat: ‘two’] Relating to anything having just two alternatives, or based on such (see below), in contrast with the steps of 10 and its powers for decimal and its compounds, of 12 for duodecimal, 16 for hexadecimal, 20 for vigesimal, 60 for sexagesimal, etc. In both the material and the electrical worlds, from the presence or absence of an item (e.g. a hole in a card, the on/off of electricity) to the north/south polarity of magnetism, the binary state is of widespread natural significance. Hence, although efforts to mimic decimal notation have been made, the binary state epitomizes computers, and hence the electromagnetic equivalents of binary notation are their normal internal form for representing numbers. The immediate compounds of binary are quaternary for steps of 4, octal for steps of 8, and hexadecimal for steps of 16.