codex

[koh-deks]

See more synonyms for codex on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural co·di·ces

[koh-duh-seez, kod-uh-] /ˈkoʊ dəˌsiz, ˈkɒd ə-/.

a quire of manuscript pages held together by stitching: the earliest form of book, replacing the scrolls and wax tablets of earlier times.
a manuscript volume, usually of an ancient classic or the Scriptures.
Archaic. a code; book of statutes.

Origin of codex

1575–85; < Latin cōdex, caudex tree-trunk, book (formed orig. from wooden tablets); cf. code

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for codex

essay, album, novel, publication, dictionary, pamphlet, text, work, manual, textbook, fiction, volume, edition, magazine, booklet, brochure, writing, copy, tome, paperback

Examples from the Web for codex

Contemporary Examples of codex

The codex worked a revolution in human communication, and the human understanding of the text was never the same.
Where's the Bailout for Publishing?
Stephen L. Carter
March 17, 2009
Absent the codex, ideas would still be the province of a privileged priesthood.
Where's the Bailout for Publishing?
Stephen L. Carter
March 17, 2009

Historical Examples of codex

The other codex according to Torinus, was found in Transsylvania by Io.
Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome
Apicius
Phillipps, 275, in the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps, a codex ca.
Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome
Apicius
They possess emollient qualities and are official in the codex.
The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines
T. H. Pardo de Tavera
B is the Vatican codex of about the middle of the fourth century.
Notes and Queries, Number 178, March 26, 1853
Various
Codex, only, has the (seeming) note, An Arab calls it k (or kw).
The Bbur-nma in English
Babur, Emperor of Hindustan

British Dictionary definitions for codex

codex

noun plural codices (ˈkəʊdɪˌsiːz, ˈkɒdɪ-)

a volume, in book form, of manuscripts of an ancient text
obsolete a legal code

Word Origin for codex

C16: from Latin: tree trunk, wooden block, book

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 codex

"manuscript volume (especially an ancient one)," 1845, from Latin codex (see code (n.)).