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PlainSpell

binary

bi·na·ry/ˈbaɪ.nə.ɹi/adjective, noun

binary is spelled B-I-N-A-R-Y: 6 letters and 3 syllables (bi·na·ry). It appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, binary means “Being in one of two mutually exclusive states” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in binary?

Letters6: B-I-N-A-R-Y
Syllables3: bi·na·ry
In writing8.9 times per million words; the 7,672nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is binary?

Binary appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce binary?

  • UK /ˈbaɪ.nə.ɹɪ/
  • US /ˈbaɪ.nə.ɹi/
  • US /ˈbaɪ.nɛɹ.i/

Binary has 3 syllables, split bi·na·ry in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-binary.ogg, En-us-binary_(alternate_pronunciation).oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with binary?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as binary (/aɪnəɹi/).

Spelled with the same letters in another order: brainy.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of binary

  • more binary comparative
  • most binary superlative
  • binaries plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does binary mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Being in one of two mutually exclusive states.

    Binary states are often represented as 1 and 0 in computer science.

  2. 2

    Concerning logic whose subject matter concerns such states.

    Near-synonym: Boolean

  3. 3

    Concerning numbers and calculations using the binary number system.

  4. 4

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

    binary star

  5. 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. 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. 7

    Focusing on two mutually exclusive conditions.

    He has a very binary understanding of gender.

  8. 8

    Having or pertaining to a gender identity represented by the gender binary; either male or female.

noun

  1. 1

    A state in which only two values are possible, in which something must have one value or the other.

  2. 2

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

  3. 3

    Ellipsis of binary file.

  4. 4

    Ellipsis of binary asteroid.

  5. 5

    Ellipsis of binary planet.

  6. 6

    Ellipsis of binary star.

  7. 7

    Ellipsis of binary option.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate binary?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of binary: bin.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Binary in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbinaire (being in a state of one of two mutually…), binarité (number system), exécutable (binary computer file)
Germanbinär (being in a state of one of two mutually…), Binärsystem (number system), Binärdatei (binary computer file)
Portuguesebinário (being in a state of one of two mutually…)
Spanishbinario (being in a state of one of two mutually…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does binary come from?

Inherited from Middle English binarie. By surface analysis, bin- + -ary.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after binary