TERNARY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Ternary

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noun

Ternary n. (pl. ternaries) A ternion; the number three; three things taken together; a triad. "Some in ternaries, some in pairs, and some single."

adjective

Ternary adj.

Proceeding by threes; consisting of three; as, the ternary number was anciently esteemed a symbol of perfection, and held in great veneration.

(Chem.) 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; thus, sodic hydroxide, NaOH, is a ternary compound.

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Etymology of 'Ternary'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Ternary" Quotes from Famous Books

... common to the proximate natural group in which the Kind is included. If even those common characters are so numerous or so little familiar as to require a further extension of the same resource, we might, instead of a binary, adopt a ternary nomenclature, employing not only the name of the genus, but that of the next natural group in order of generality above the genus, commonly called the Family. This was done in the mineralogical nomenclature proposed by Professor Mohs. "The names framed by him were not composed ...

— A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive • John Stuart Mill