How to pronounce unary
Say it like YOO-nuh-ree. Unary has three syllables, and the main stress falls on the first one (YOO).
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce unary. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- YOO
- nuh
- ree
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Unary pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- YOOSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "oo" in food.
- nuhKeep this part quick and light. The vowel is the relaxed "uh" in about.
- reeKeep this part quick and light. The vowel is the "ee" in see.
American vs British pronunciation of unary
American and British speakers say unary in essentially the same way: /ˈjunəri/ in the US and /ˈjuːnəri/ in the UK.
British respelling: YOO-nuh-ree.
What does unary mean?
- Consisting of or involving a single element or component.
- Of an operation, function, procedure, or logic gate, taking exactly one operand, argument, parameter, or input; having domain of dimension 1.“Negation is a unary operation.”
- The unary, or bijective base-1, numeral system.
- Unary coding, an entropy encoding for natural numbers.
Where does unary come from?
From Latin ūnus (“one”) + -ary, on the pattern of binary, ternary, etc.
Questions about saying unary
How do you pronounce unary?
Say YOO-nuh-ree. The American pronunciation is /ˈjunəri/. In British English it is /ˈjuːnəri/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in unary?
Unary has three syllables, and the main stress falls on the first one (YOO). Broken into parts: YOO · nuh · ree.
Do Americans and Brits say unary the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /ˈjunəri/ and the British form is /ˈjuːnəri/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.