ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Finitary operation

A finitary operation is like playing with blocks or Legos. Imagine you have a bunch of blocks that you can use to make something new. With a finitary operation, you can only use a certain number of blocks at a time to create something new. For example, you might only be able to use 3 blocks at a time.

So, let's say you have 6 blocks and you can only use 3 at a time. You might put 3 blocks together to make a small tower, and then use the other 3 blocks to make another small tower. Then you could use the finitary operation to combine the two small towers into one bigger tower.

A finitary operation is like a rule that tells you how to put your blocks together in a certain way. You can only do a certain number of steps at a time, and you have to follow the rules if you want to get the right answer.

In math, a finitary operation is a rule that combines numbers together in a certain way. For example, addition and multiplication are finitary operations. They tell you how to combine numbers, but you can only do it one step at a time. So, if you're adding 3 numbers together, you can only add 2 of them at a time and then add the third number later.

Overall, a finitary operation is just a fancy way to say that you have some rules to follow when you're combining things together, and you can only do a certain number of steps at a time.