Unicode

British

/ ˈjuːnɪˌkəʊd /

noun

computing a character set for all languages

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Unicode Scientific

/ yo̅o̅′nĭ-kōd′ /

A computer standard for encoding characters. Each character is represented by sixteen bits. Whereas ASCII, being an 8-bit encoding scheme, can only represent 256 characters, Unicode has 65,536 combinations, enabling it to encode the letters of all written languages as well as thousands of characters in languages such as Japanese and Chinese.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Proposals for new emojis are reviewed by the Unicode Consortium, an international software standards body that functions sort of like the emoji Hague.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2023

The first troubles began on Sunday, right after Musk announced the Unicode 𝕏 as Twitter’s new logo.

From Slate • Jul. 25, 2023

Unicode inclusion also pushes the boundary of what is mathematically feasible with the Kaktovik numerals.

From Scientific American • Apr. 10, 2023

It was the second most used in the world in 2019 and 2021, according to polls by the Unicode Consortium, beaten only by the “crying/laughing” face, which teenagers have since declared is not cool.

From New York Times • Feb. 14, 2023

Unicode is an encoding system that gives a unique number for every character in any language.

From Technology and Books for All by Lebert, Marie

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023