verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of codify
Explanation
To codify is to arrange information in a logical order that others can follow. Legislators may try to codify, or gather and organize, all laws related to a particular issue. When you look at the word codify you can probably guess that it's related to the word code. Warriors live by a code. Building inspectors check that a building and its systems are up to code. Hockey players use "the code" to determine when — and why — to fight on the ice. All of these codes are clear to the people who use them because someone in the past made an effort to codify the various rules into an organized system.
Vocabulary lists containing codify
Vocabulary from the Twelfth Republican Debate, March 10, 2016
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Content Summary 4.7: Early Modern Western Society and Culture
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President Obama's Remarks on Spying Scandal
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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.
See Examples For:
That deal, to be negotiated over the coming months, aims to codify cooperation in a range of areas, including defense, critical minerals and energy.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
In early August, the Motor Carrier Safety Administration moved to codify those language requirements through the federal rulemaking process.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
The poor conditions were also the backdrop for a push in 1980 by the New Progressive Party governor at the time, Carlos Romero Barceló, to codify voting rights for prisoners.
From Salon ● May 6, 2026
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said he would ask Congress to "codify" the plan and would discuss it further at the Davos World Economic Forum later this month.
From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026
He had tried to codify the evil uses of might by individuals, so that he might set bounds to them by the impersonal justice of the state.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Congress codified a regulation defining a professional degree as signifying “completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession” for which a “professional licensure is also generally required.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The wrap dress was codified as “practically perfect” in the 1980 satirical book, “The Official Preppy Handbook,” though its popularity peaked in the 1970s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
It’s important to remember that it was 1976, so this particular fashion choice was not yet au courant, because they had just codified it.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
Birthright citizenship for people born in US territories such as Puerto Rico is codified by federal statute.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
He was the first to prove geometric theorems of the sort codified by Euclid three centuries later—for example, the proposition that the angles at the base of an isosceles triangle are equal.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
“What is the problem of codifying in law that you’re not allowed to?” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026
The state secretary for digitalisation, Alexander Pröll, from the conservative ÖVP, said that a draft bill codifying the ban would be presented by the end of June.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026
Stewart describes the platform as codifying best practices he’s relied on for decades — but at a scale and speed no individual agent could match.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
They also recalled little pushback when DHS formally banned chokeholds and other tactics in 2023; it was merely codifying the norm.
From Salon ● Jan. 14, 2026
On the other hand, succession to property is everywhere a matter of statute law and commercial law is codified or codifying throughout the world.
From An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law by Roscoe Pound
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
