octal

[ ok-tl ]

adjective

1. Also of or relating to the number system with base 8, employing the numerals 0 through 7.
2. relating to or encoded in an octal system, especially for use by a digital computer.
3. (of an electronic device) having eight pins in its base for electrical connections.

noun

1. octonary ( def 6 ).

octal

/ ŏk′təl /

1. Relating to a number system having a base of 8. Each place in an octal number represents a power of 8. Octal notation has often been used in computer programming because three-digit binary numbers are readily converted into one-digit octal numbers from 0 to 7.

Word History and Origins

Origin of octal¹

First recorded in 1935–40; oct- + -al ¹

Example Sentences

“You’d punch one number wrong into a card, and you got a bunch of wasted paper … just a bunch of octal numbers that didn’t mean anything.”

From Scientific American

Some machines were decimal, others binary and others used octal or hexadecimal schemes.

From BBC

The contents of octal digits 0-5 of the index register location are unaffected by this instruction.

From Project Gutenberg

Once upon a time, these magic numbers were PDP-11 branch instructions that skipped over header data to the start of executable code; the 0407, for example, was octal for `branch 16 bytes relative'.

From Project Gutenberg

The first bit of octal digit 2 is the indirect address bit.

From Project Gutenberg