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code¹

  • /kəʊd/ UK
  • /koʊd/ US

Rhymes with -əʊd

Where it comes from

From Middle English code (“system of law”), from Old French code (“system of law”), from Latin cōdex, later form of caudex (“the stock or stem of a tree, a board or tablet of wood smeared over with wax, on which the ancients originally wrote; hence, a book, a writing.”). Doublet of codex.

Verb etymology 1, verb sense 7 is an ellipsis of code blue (“medical emergency”).

noun codes

  1. countable, uncountable A short textual designation, often with little relation to the item it represents. This flavour of soup has been assigned the code WRT-9.
  2. countable, uncountable A body of law, sanctioned by legislation, in which the rules of law to be specifically applied by the courts are set forth in systematic form; a compilation of laws by public authority; a digest. the mild and impartial spirit which pervades the Code compiled under Canute
  3. countable, uncountable Any system of principles, rules or regulations relating to one subject. The medical code is a system of rules for the regulation of the professional conduct of physicians.
  4. countable, uncountable A set of rules for converting information into another form or representation.
  5. countable, synecdoche, uncountable A codeword, code point, an encoded representation of a character, symbol, or other entity. The ASCII code of "A" is 65.
  6. countable, uncountable A message represented by rules intended to conceal its meaning. [Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes.
  7. countable, uncountable A cryptographic system using a codebook that converts words or phrases into codewords.
  8. uncountable Instructions for a computer, written in a programming language; the input of a translator, an interpreter or a browser, namely: source code, machine code, bytecode. Object-oriented C++ code is easier to understand for a human than C code.
  9. countable, uncountable A program.
  10. countable, uncountable A particular lect or language variety.
  11. countable, uncountable An emergency requiring situation-trained members of the staff.
  12. countable, informal, uncountable A set of unwritten rules that bind a social group. girl code
  13. Australia, countable, metonymically, uncountable A sport or league of a specific type of football, such as rugby league or the NRL

verb codes · coding · coded

  1. To write software programs. I learned to code on an early home computer in the 1980s.
  2. transitive To add codes to (a data set). The resulting citation collection was databased and coded for meaning, etymon, and date range (earliest and latest occurrence found).
  3. To categorise by assigning identifiers from a schedule, for example CPT coding for medical insurance purposes.
  4. To encode. We should code the messages we send out on Usenet.
  5. intransitive To encode a protein.
  6. informal To call a hospital emergency code. coding in the CT scanner
  7. informal Of a patient, to suffer a sudden medical emergency (a code blue) such as cardiac arrest.

code²

noun codes

  1. alternative Alternative form of cod

Code³

proper noun

  1. A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: encode, cypher, encipher, cipher, encrypt, computer code, codification, inscribe, encoding, ean, encryption, password, passcode, blog, codename, number

Translations

Every language

noun set of rules for converting information

Españolcódigo
한국어코드 kodeu, 부호 buho
日本語コード kōdo, 符号 fugō
中文代碼 /代码 dàimǎ, 編碼 /编码 biānmǎ
Portuguêscódigo
Françaiscode
DeutschCode, Kode
Italianocodice
Ελληνικάκώδικας kódikas
Românăcod
Русскийкод kod
Tiếng Việtmã
العربيةرُمُوز rumūz
עבריתקוֹד kod

noun symbol or short designation

Españolcódigo
中文代碼 /代码 dàimǎ
Portuguêscódigo
Italianocodice
Ελληνικάκωδικός kodikós
Românăcod
Русскийкод kod
עבריתקוֹד kod

noun body of law

Españolcódigo
한국어규약 gyuyak
日本語規約 kiyaku
中文法規 /法规 fǎguī
Portuguêscódigo
Françaiscode
DeutschKodex, Gesetzbuch
Italianocodice
Ελληνικάκώδικας kódikas
Românăcod
Русскийко́декс kódɛks, уста́в ustáv
Tiếng Việtluật
العربيةدُسْتُور dustūr, دَسْتُور dastūr, قَانُون qānūn, تَشْرِيع tašrīʕ

noun system of principles, rules or regulations

Españolcódigo
한국어법전 beopjeon, 코드 kodeu
日本語掟 okite, 法典 hōten, コード kōdo
中文規章 /规章 guīzhāng, 法典 fǎdiǎn, 章程 zhāngchéng, 準則 /准则 zhǔnzé
हिन्दीसंहिता sãhitā
Portuguêscódigo
Françaiscode
DeutschKodex
Italianocodice, norma
Ελληνικάκώδικας kódikas
Românăcod
Русскийко́декс kódɛks
العربيةاِصْطِلَاح iṣṭilāḥ

noun cryptographic system

Españolcódigo, clave
한국어암호 amho
日本語暗号 angō
中文代碼 /代码 dàimǎ, 密碼 /密码 mìmǎ
हिन्दीकोड koḍ
Portuguêscódigo
Italianocodice
Ελληνικάκώδικας kódikas, κρυπτογράφημα kryptográfima
Românăcod
Русскийкод kod, шифр šifr
Tiếng Việtmật mã
العربيةتَرْمِيز tarmīz, شِفْرَة šifra, رَمْز ramz
עבריתקוֹד kod

noun instructions for a computer

Españolcódigo
한국어코드 kodeu, 부호 buho
日本語コード kōdo, 符号 fugō
中文碼 /码 mǎ, 代碼 /代码 dàimǎ
हिन्दीकोड koḍ
Portuguêscódigo
Françaiscode
DeutschCode, Kode
Italianocodice
Românăcod
Русскийкод kod
Tiếng Việtmã hiệu
العربيةكود kod, شِفْرَة šifra
עבריתקוֹד kod

verb to write software programs

Españolprogramar
日本語コーディングする kōdingu suru
中文編程 /编程 biānchéng
Portuguêsprogramar
Françaisprogrammer
Deutschprogrammieren, koden (coden)
Italianoprogrammare
Ελληνικάπρογραμματίζω programmatízo
Русскийпрограмми́ровать programmírovatʹ, кодировать kodirovatʹ, кодить koditʹ
Tiếng Việtlập trình, viết chương trình

verb to categorise by assigning identifiers from a schedule

Deutschverschlüsseln

verb cryptography: to encode

Españolcodificar, encriptar, criptografiar
中文编码 biānmǎ
Portuguêsencriptar, criptografar, codificar
Deutschverschlüsseln
Ελληνικάκωδικοποιώ kodikopoió, κρυπτογραφώ kryptografó
Русскийкоди́ровать kodírovatʹ, закоди́ровать zakodírovatʹ, шифрова́ть šifrovátʹ, зашифрова́ть zašifrovátʹ
עבריתקוֹדֵד kodéd, הִצְפִּין hitzpín

verb to suffer a sudden medical emergency

Deutschcrap

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Cite this
MLA

"code." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/code. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

code. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/code

Chicago

"code." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/code.

BibTeX
@misc{code_2026,
  title = {code},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/code},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}