ternary

English

Etymology

Late Latin ternarius (“consisting of three things”), from terni (“three each”).

Adjective

ternary (not comparable)

1. Made up of three things; treble, triadic, triple, triplex
2. Arranged in groups of three
3. (mathematics) To the base three
   • Donald Knuth, The Art of Computer Programming

     Perhaps the prettiest number system of all […] is the balanced ternary notation.

4. (mathematics) Having three variables
5. (chemistry) Containing, or consisting of, three different parts, as elements, atoms, groups, or radicals, which are regarded as having different functions or relations in the molecule.

   Sodic hydroxide, NaOH, is a ternary compound.

Synonyms

• trinary

Derived terms

Derived terms

ternary alloy ternary code ternary complex ternary compound ternary computer ternary diagram ternary expansion ternary form ternary Golay code ternary Golay conjecture ternary incremental representation ternary logic

ternary name ternary notation ternary numeral system ternary operation ternary operator ternary plot ternary pulse code modulation ternary quantic ternary search ternary search tree ternary signal ternary system ternary tree

Translations

Made up of three things.

• Russian: троичный (ru) (troičnyj), тройной (ru) (trojnoj)

Arranged in group of three.

• Russian: трёхкомпонентный (ru) (trjóxkomponentnyj), трёхчленный (ru) (trjóxčlennyj)

Mathematics: To the base three

• Icelandic: þríunda- (is)

Mathematics: Having three variables

• Icelandic: þrístæður (is) m

• Russian: трёхчленный (ru) (trjóxčlennyj), тернарный (ru) (ternarnyj)

• French: ternaire (fr)
• German: ternär (de)
• Icelandic: þríunda- (is), þrígildur (is) m
• Italian: ternario (1)
• Spanish: ternario (es)

See also

• unary
• binary

Noun

ternary (plural ternaries)

1. A group of three things; a trio, threesome or tierce