Definition of "ternary" [ter•na•ry]

• Composed of three or arranged in threes. (adjective)
• Mathematics Having the base three. (adjective)
• Mathematics Involving three variables. (adjective)
• A group of three. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The Python ternary is that undead () if 'yes' else 'grr. argh.'"
• "A century earlier, Franco of Cologne had explicitly associated the idea of ternary rhythm with the Christian trinity, but from now onwards, every value had to be able to be divided by either two or three."
• "The lottery schemes are what is known as the ternary combination of seventy-eight numbers, being one to seventy eight, inclusive; or, in other words, 'three number' schemes."