hexadecimal, a. and n. Computing.
(hɛksəˈdɛsɪməl)
[f. hexa- + decimal a. and n.]
A. adj. Pertaining to or being a system of numerical notation that employs 16 rather than 10 as the base.
| 1954 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery I. 52 Running time required for the same problem in hexadecimal notation is identical with that required by the decimal notation. 1964 IBM Systems Jrnl. III. 123 The fraction of a floating-point number is expressed in 4-bit hexadecimal (base 16) digits. 1978 Pract. Computing July–Aug. 43/3 The hexadecimal keypad is constructed from high-quality key mechanisms. 1985 Inmac Catal. Spring/Summer 40/1 Arithmetic is in octal (base 8) hexadecimal (base 16) and decimal (base 10) number systems. |
B. n. The hexadecimal system; hexadecimal notation.
| 1970 Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery XIII. 193/2 (heading) Another method of converting from hexadecimal to decimal. 1980 C. S. French Computer Sci. ii. 8 Conversions between Hexadecimal and Decimal follow the same pattern used for Binary and Octal. |
Hence hexaˈdecimally adv.
| 1954 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery I. 52 One of the features of this revised MINIAC is that it may be operated hexa-decimally, yielding better than two additional decimal places. 1983 Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery XX. 110/1 The hexadecimally coded tones used for address, status, and control purposes are established by various national or international tone signalling standards. |