ternary

English

Etymology

From Late Latin ternārius (“consisting of three things”), from ternī (“three each”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɜː.nə.ɹi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɝ.nə.ɹi/
• Homophone: ternery

Adjective

ternary (not comparable)

1. Made up of three things.

   Synonyms: treble, triadic, triple, triplex, tern, trinary, trine; see also Thesaurus:triple

2. Arranged in groups of three.
3. (arithmetic) To the base three.

   Synonym: trinary

   • 1999, Donald Knuth, The Art of Computer Programming, 3rd edition, volume 2, →ISBN, page 207:

     Perhaps the prettiest number system of all is the balanced ternary notation

4. (arithmetic) 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.

6. (programming) Of an operator taking three operands.

   An "if…then…else" construction is called a ternary operator when it is combined in one line of a program.

Derived terms

• biternary
• 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 logarithm
• 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

• Bulgarian: трои́чен (troíčen)
• Dutch: drieledig (nl)
• German: ternär (de)
• Greek: τριαδικός (el) m (triadikós), τετραμερής (el) m (tetramerís)
• Romanian: ternar (ro)
• Russian: троичный (ru) (troičnyj), тройно́й (ru) (trojnój)
• Spanish: ternario (es)
• Swedish: trefaldig (sv), ternär (sv), trevärd (sv)

Arranged in group of three

• Dutch: drievoudig (nl)
• Russian: трёхкомпонентный (ru) (trjóxkomponentnyj), трёхчленный (ru) (trjóxčlennyj)

Mathematics: To the base three

• Bulgarian: троичен (troičen)
• Dutch: drietallig (nl)
• Icelandic: þríunda-
• Romanian: ternar (ro)

Mathematics: Having three variables

• Dutch: bestande uit drie variabelen (nl)
• Greek: τριαδικός (el) m (triadikós), τετραμερής (el) m (tetramerís)
• Icelandic: þrístæður
• Russian: трёхчленный (ru) (trjóxčlennyj), тернарный (ru) (ternarnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Czech: ^{(please verify)} ternární
• French: ^{(please verify)} ternaire (fr)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} þríunda-, þrígildur
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} ternario (it)

See also

• unary
• binary
• tetranary

Noun

ternary (plural ternaries)

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

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:trio

2. (obsolete) The Holy Trinity.
   • 1570, John Dee, in H. Billingsley (trans.) Euclid, Elements of Geometry, Preface:

     And albeit these thynges be waighty and truthes of great importance, yet (by the infinite goodnes of the Almighty Ternarie,) Artificiall Methods and easy wayes are made, by which the zelous Philosopher, may wyn nere this Riuerish Ida, this Mountayne of Contemplation […] .

Anagrams

• Trenary