Standard Lemma guide

unary

adj · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈjuːnəɹi/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Consisting of or involving a single element or component.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of an operation, function, procedure, or logic gate, taking exactly one operand, argument, parameter, or input; having domain of dimension 1.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: computer, computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences

Examples

  • Negation is a unary operation.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The unary, or bijective base-1, numeral system.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Unary coding, an entropy encoding for natural numbers.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, information-theory, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

consisting of or involving a single element or component

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • in a unary operation in a mathematical system one element is used to yield a single result

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin ūnus (“one”) + -ary, on the pattern of binary, ternary, etc.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: едини́чен (ediníčen) — consisting of or involving a single element or component
  • Finnish: yksiosainen — consisting of or involving a single element or component
  • German: einstellig — consisting of or involving a single element or component
  • Malay: sesatu — consisting of or involving a single element or component
  • Persian: یگانی (yegâni) — consisting of or involving a single element or component
  • Polish: jednoelementowy — consisting of or involving a single element or component
  • Portuguese: unário — consisting of or involving a single element or component
  • Czech: unární — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • Finnish: unaarinen — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • French: unaire — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • German: unär — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • Icelandic: einstæður — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • Malay: sesatu — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • Polish: jednoargumentowy — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • Polish: unarny — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • Polish: jednoczłonowy — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • Romanian: unar — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • Swedish: unär — mathematics, programming: of a function, to take one argument
  • German: Unärsystem — Translations
  • Italian: sistema unario — Translations
  • Polish: system unarny — Translations