Hexadecimal definition

Hexadecimal





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3 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  hexadecimal
       adj : of or pertaining to a number system having 16 as its base
             [syn: {hex}]

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:



  hexadecimal n. Base 16. Coined in the early 1950s to replace earlier
     `sexadecimal', which was too racy and amusing for stuffy IBM, and later
     adopted by the rest of the industry.
  
     Actually, neither term is etymologically pure. If we take `binary' to
     be paradigmatic, the most etymologically correct term for base 10, for
     example, is `denary', which comes from `deni' (ten at a time, ten each),
     a Latin `distributive' number; the corresponding term for base-16 would
     be something like `sendenary'. "Decimal" comes from the combining root
     of `decem', Latin for 10. If wish to create a truly analogous word for
     base 16, we should start with `sedecim', Latin for 16. Ergo, `sedecimal'
     is the word that would have been created by a Latin scholar. The `sexa-'
     prefix is Latin but incorrect in this context, and `hexa-' is Greek. The
     word `octal' is similarly incorrect; a correct form would be `octaval'
     (to go with decimal), or `octonary' (to go with binary). If anyone ever
     implements a base-3 computer, computer scientists will be faced with the
     unprecedented dilemma of a choice between two _correct_ forms; both
     `ternary' and `trinary' have a claim to this throne.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  hexadecimal
       
           (Or "hex") {Base} 16.  A number representation
          using the digits 0-9, with their usual meaning, plus the
          letters A-F (or a-f) to represent hexadecimal digits with
          values of (decimal) 10 to 15.  The right-most digit counts
          ones, the next counts multiples of 16, then 16^2 = 256, etc.
       
          For example, hexadecimal BEAD is decimal 48813:
       
          	digit    weight        value
          	B = 11   16^3 = 4096   11*4096 = 45056
          	E = 14   16^2 =  256   14* 256 =  3584
          	A = 10   16^1 =   16   10*  16 =   160
          	D = 13   16^0 =    1   13*   1 =    13
          					 -----
          				BEAD   = 48813
       
          There are many conventions for distinguishing hexadecimal
          numbers from decimal or other bases in programs.  In {C} for
          example, the prefix "0x" is used, e.g. 0x694A11.
       
          Hexadecimal is more succinct than {binary} for representing
          {bit-masks}, machines addresses, and other low-level constants
          but it is still reasonably easy to split a hex number into
          different bit positions, e.g. the top 16 bits of a 32-bit word
          are the first four hex digits.
       
          The term was coined in the early 1960s to replace earlier
          "sexadecimal", which was too racy and amusing for stuffy
          {IBM}, and later adopted by the rest of the industry.
       
          Actually, neither term is etymologically pure.  If we take
          "binary" to be paradigmatic, the most etymologically correct
          term for base ten, for example, is "denary", which comes from
          "deni" (ten at a time, ten each), a Latin "distributive"
          number; the corresponding term for base sixteen would be
          something like "sendenary".  "Decimal" is from an ordinal
          number; the corresponding prefix for six would imply something
          like "sextidecimal".  The "sexa-" prefix is Latin but
          incorrect in this context, and "hexa-" is Greek.  The word
          {octal} is similarly incorrect; a correct form would be
          "octaval" (to go with decimal), or "octonary" (to go with
          binary).  If anyone ever implements a base three computer,
          computer scientists will be faced with the unprecedented
          dilemma of a choice between two *correct* forms; both
          "ternary" and "trinary" have a claim to this throne.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1996-03-09)
       
       

















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