decoding

American

[dee-koh-ding] / diˈkoʊ dɪŋ /

noun

the act, process, or result of extracting meaning or usable information, as from a code, written or spoken symbols, or an electronic signal.

The device that performs the decoding is called a digital to analog converter.
Recent decodings of the hieroglyphs at Palenque refer to dates beyond the end of the Mayan calendar.

adjective

relating to the process of extracting meaning or usable information, as from a code or an electronic signal.

The decoding algorithm will have to discern a valid signal from the noise.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

decodings

plural

Etymology

Origin of decoding

First recorded in 1895–1900; decod(e) ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun; decod(e) ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective

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:

decoding decodings

The company promises Ising will deliver up to three times higher accuracy for the decoding process central to quantum error correction.

From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026

“I’m all about decoding the rhythms of the music,” she adds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026

The second hurdle to overcome is the “software challenge” of decoding the brain’s signals and converting them to computer code.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026

Encoding converts digital data into these pages, while decoding translates them back into usable information.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 29, 2026

Thanks in part to a young mathematician named Alan Turing, they came up with new ways to tackle Enigma, including much more powerful decoding machines.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

The documents, known as the "Magic intercepts," are decodings of the secret messages of 33 other nations, including France, Denmark, Mexico and the Netherlands.

From Time Magazine Archive

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