code

[ kohd ]

/ koʊd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR code ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a system for communication by telegraph, heliograph, etc., in which long and short sounds, light flashes, etc., are used to symbolize the content of a message: Morse code.

a system used for brevity or secrecy of communication, in which arbitrarily chosen words, letters, or symbols are assigned definite meanings.

any set of standards set forth and enforced by a local government agency for the protection of public safety, health, etc., as in the structural safety of buildings (building code), health requirements for plumbing, ventilation, etc. (sanitary code or health code), and the specifications for fire escapes or exits (fire code).

a systematically arranged collection or compendium of laws, rules, or regulations.

any authoritative, general, systematic, and written statement of the legal rules and principles applicable in a given legal order to one or more broad areas of life.

a word, letter, number, or other symbol used in a code system to mark, represent, or identify something: The code on the label shows the date of manufacture.

Digital Technology.

a set of symbols that can be interpreted by a computer or piece of software: binary code; Java code; ASCII code.
the symbolic arrangement of statements or instructions in a computer program, or the set of instructions in such a program: That program took 3000 lines of code.

any system or collection of rules and regulations: a gentleman's code of behavior.

Medicine/Medical. a directive or alert to a hospital team assigned to emergency resuscitation of patients.

Genetics. genetic code.

Linguistics.

the system of rules shared by the participants in an act of communication, making possible the transmission and interpretation of messages.
(in sociolinguistic theory) one of two distinct styles of language use that differ in degree of explicitness and are sometimes thought to be correlated with differences in social class.Compare elaborated code, restricted code.

verb (used with object), cod·ed, cod·ing.

to translate (a message) into a code; encode.

to categorize or identify by assigning a code to: All specimens were coded prior to the test.

to arrange or enter (laws or statutes) in a code.

Digital Technology. to write code for (a computer program or application) (often followed by up): Hire a programmer to code up a website for you.

verb (used without object), cod·ed, cod·ing.

Genetics. to specify the amino acid sequence of a protein by the sequence of nucleotides comprising the gene for that protein: a gene that codes for the production of insulin.

Digital Technology. to write computer code.

Nearby words

cod-liver oil, cod., coda, codder, coddle, code, code blue, code book, code dating, code flag, code name

Origin of code

1275–1325; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin cōdex codex

Related forms

cod·er, nouncode·less, adjectivepre·code, verb (used with object), pre·cod·ed, pre·cod·ing.re·code, verb (used with object), re·cod·ed, re·cod·ing.

sub·code, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for code

No wonder somebody using North Korean code staged a raid on Sony Pictures.
Sony Blames North Korea for Hacking, but Washington Left Them Completely Vulnerable|Gordon G. Chang|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Turing conceived and built a computer, the forerunner of all digital computations, that cracked the code.
The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero|Clive Irving|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This is at least better than the Code of Hammurabi, which considered the rape victim an adulteress.
No Wonder Cosby's Keeping Quiet: He Could Still Be Prosecuted|Jay Michaelson|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The translation agency only advertises for girls with “no complexes”: code for being prepared to bed the client.
Russia’s Gold Digger Academy|Peter Pomerantsev|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Many historians have leveled criticism at the Code, arguing that it was too conservative and supportive of the bourgeois.
Napoleon Was a Dynamite Dictator|J.P. O’Malley|November 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her morality, training, code of life and all sat up like a wary censor and surveyed the scene.
Gargoyles|Ben Hecht
According to their code it was not stealing to rob a person supposed to be wealthy.
Blazing The Way|Emily Inez Denny
His first impulse was to shoot off a wire in code to announce his discovery.
The Cup of Fury|Rupert Hughes
With respect to the Code itself, an unsuccessful attempt was made to procure the copy of it transmitted to Mr. Dundas.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. VI. (of 12)|Edmund Burke
If he stole the seed, rations or fodder, the Code enacted that his fingers should be cut off.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1|Various

British Dictionary definitions for code

code

/ (kəʊd) /

noun

a system of letters or symbols, and rules for their association by means of which information can be represented or communicated for reasons of secrecy, brevity, etcbinary code; Morse code See also genetic code

a message in code

a symbol used in a code

a conventionalized set of principles, rules, or expectationsa code of behaviour

a system of letters or digits used for identification or selection purposes

verb (tr)

to translate, transmit, or arrange into a code

Word Origin for code

C14: from French, from Latin cōdex book, codex

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

Word Origin and History for code (1 of 2)

code

c.1300, "systematic compilation of laws," from Old French code "system of laws, law-book" (13c.), from Latin codex, earlier caudex "book, book of laws," literally "tree trunk," hence, book made up of wooden tablets covered with wax for writing. Meaning "cipher" (the sense in secret code) is from 1808.

Word Origin and History for code (1 of 2)

code

1815, from code (n.). Specifically in the computer sense from 1947. Related: Coded; coding.

Science definitions for code

code

[ kōd ]

A system of signals used to represent letters or numbers in transmitting messages.

The instructions in a computer program. Instructions written by a programmer in a programming language are often called source code. Instructions that have been converted into machine language that the computer understands are called machine code or executable code. See also programming language.

Culture definitions for code

code

A series of instructions designed to be fed into a computer.

code

noun

verb (used with object), cod·ed, cod·ing.

verb (used without object), cod·ed, cod·ing.

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.css-1gxch3{color:#1a1a1a;font-size:18px;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;}noun

verb (used without object), cod·ed, cod·ing.

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Word Origin and History for code (1 of 2)

code

Word Origin and History for code (1 of 2)

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British Dictionary definitions for code