The Etymology of BINZER

Main entry:
binzer

Pronunciation:
/'bin-z&r/

Function:
noun

Etymology:
BINary ZERo

Date:
1960's?

Usage:
originally in IBM S/360 assembler language programming:

1 : a binary digit of the value '0';
2 : a byte in which all bits are zero; eight consecutive binary digits of the value '00000000' (hexadecimal '00');
3 : the lowest value in a computer collating sequence; NUL.

Note: Definition (2) is distinct from computer code assignments of "zero," such as the displayable representations of EBCDIC hex'F0' and ASCII hex'30'.

Inflected Form(s):
plural -s
: containing multiple (usu. consecutive) bits of the value zero, or bytes in which all bits are zero <the last record is binzers>

Function:
transitive verb
: to change the value of bits or byte(s) to binary zero <always binzer your flag fields first>