1. <
programming> (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. <
data, humour> 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)