decode

American  

[dee-kohd] / diˈkoʊd /

verb (used with object)

decoded, decoding

1. to translate (data or a message) from a code into the original language or form.

2. to extract meaning from (spoken or written symbols).

3. Television. to unscramble (an electronic signal) so as to provide a video picture for cable subscribers.

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verb (used without object)

decoded, decoding

1. to work at decoding.

decode British  

/ diːˈkəʊd /

verb

1. to convert (a message, text, etc) from code into ordinary language

2. computing to convert (coded characters) from one form to another, as from binary-coded decimals to decimal numbers Compare encode

3. electronics to convert (a coded electrical signal) into normal analogue components

4. to analyse and understand the construction of words and phrases, esp in a foreign language

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Other Word Forms

• decoder noun

Etymology

Origin of decode

First recorded in 1895–1900; de- + code

Explanation

When you translate a message from symbols or code into language, you decode it. British code breakers worked during World War II to decode Germany's coded messages. You might need to decode a secret message sent by a spy, but some computer scientists also decode the symbols in computer languages into grammatically correct language. Sometimes older people don't understand the lingo that younger people are using — they might ask a grandchild to help them decode lines in a song, for example. When sound engineers translate between analog and digital signals, they also decode.

Example Sentences

CPUs can excel in this kind of sequential computing, but what you’d really like to have are purpose-built chips that can handle decode cheaply and efficiently, without, for example, the need for pricey off-chip memory.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

AI inference computing is divided into two main tasks: pre-fill, or the process by which a model interprets a user prompt, and decode, by which the model generates a response, one word at a time.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 28, 2026

Funded by the Buckinghamshire-based ME Association and carried out at Imperial College London, the Rosetta Stone study hopes to look for biomarkers and "decode the immunological profile" of both conditions.

From BBC • Feb. 1, 2026

"We then look at this dance through a microscope with a camera and decode from the wiggles what the robots are saying to us. It's very similar to how honey bees communicate with each other."

From Science Daily • Jan. 6, 2026

They suggest that the receipt of a message from space is, even before we decode it, a profoundly hopeful sign.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• clear up
• figure out
• interpret
• solve
• translate
• unravel
• unscramble
• untangle