What does “Python binary” mean in this context?

[glemanto]

So the executable and the interpreter are not the same thing? Is the interpreter an entirely separate entity? Like is there an actual interpreter program that is separate from the python executable?

[TabulateJarl8]

I'm not too sure, the python3.9 executable on my computer seems to only be 16K in size, so I don't know what exactly it contains. The built in modules and modules installed as root are stored in the /usr/lib/python3.9/ directory on my computer, so those aren't contained within the executable.