Binarily

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a way that involves two contrasting elements or choices
2. Relating to a structure or concept that is divided into two parts or categories
3. In a way that divides something into two separate components or alternatives

Etymology: "Binarily" is simply "binary" with the adverbial suffix "-ly" attached, and the suffix's own ancestry is older than the rest of the word. The "-ly" ending descends from an Old English "-līce," which came from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "body" or "form," so the adverb carries a faint trace of physical shape in its making. The "binary" part reaches English through Late Latin "bīnārius," built on the Latin "bīnus," meaning "two by two" or "double," which in turn grew from the same Proto-Indo-European root that gave us "two." The "bīnus" of Latin is the source of the "bi-" we see in words like "bicycle" and "bilateral," and "binary" carries that sense of pairing into mathematics and computing, where it refers to a system built on two states. English took "binary" as a learned borrowing, and the adverb "binarily" follows the same pattern as other adjectives that gain "-ly" to describe how something is arranged or done.

Synonyms: dually, dichotomously

Antonyms: INVALID