Unary

2 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  unary
       adj : consisting of or involving a single element or component;
             "in a unary operation in a mathematical system one
             element is used to yield a single result"

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



  unary
       
          1.  (or "{monadic}") A description of a
          {function} or {operator} which takes one {argument}, e.g. the
          unary minus operator which negates its argument.  The term is
          part of the same sequence as {nullary} and {binary}.
       
          2.  Base one.  A number base with only one
          digit, namely zero, and which can therefore only be used to
          express the number zero.  Attempting to add one to zero
          results in an infinite sequence of carries.  Numbers in unary
          notation can be represented particularly efficiently however
          since each digit requires no storage.
       
          (2001-02-25)