binary system

noun
1.
a system involving only two elements, as 0 and 1 or yes and no.
2.
Mathematics. a system of counting or measurement whose units are powers of two.
Compare binary (def 2a).
3.
Astronomy, binary star.
Also called dyadic system (for defs 1, 2).
Origin
1825-35
Examples from the web for binary system
  • They think it was part of a two-star or binary system.
  • If it actually is in the nebula, perhaps its one member of a former binary system, the other star being the one that exploded.
  • Both pulsars and bursters, astrophysicists have long thought, involve a binary system: two stars orbiting each other.
  • For one thing, the stars may have started life in a binary system, in a tight orbit around another star.
  • binary system technologies offer both environmental advantages and disadvantages.
British Dictionary definitions for binary system

binary notation

noun
1.
a number system having a base of two, numbers being expressed by sequences of the digits 0 and 1: used in computing, as 0 and 1 can be represented electrically as off and on