encode

American  

[en-kohd] / ɛnˈkoʊd /

verb (used with object)

• encodes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• encoded,
  past participle,  past
• encoding
  present participle

1. to convert (a message, information, etc.) into code.

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encode British  

/ ɪnˈkəʊd /

verb

1. to convert (a message) from plain text into code

2. computing to convert (characters and symbols) into a digital form as a series of impulses Compare decode

3. to convert (an electrical signal) into a form suitable for transmission

4. to convert (a nerve signal) into a form that can be received by the brain

5. to use (a word, phrase, etc, esp of a foreign language) in the construction appropriate to it in that language

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encode Scientific  

/ ĕn-kōd′ /

1. To specify the genetic code for the synthesis of a protein molecule or a part of a protein molecule.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• encodement
  noun
• encoder
  noun
• misencode
  verb (used with object)
• encodable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• encoding
  present
• encoded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• encode
  simple
• encodes
  simple
• have encoded
  perfect
• has encoded
  perfect
• am encoding
  progressive
• are encoding
  progressive
• is encoding
  progressive
• have been encoding
  perfect progressive
• has been encoding
  perfect progressive

Past

• encoded
  simple
• had encoded
  perfect
• was encoding
  progressive
• were encoding
  progressive
• had been encoding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will encode
  simple
• will have encoded
  perfect
• will be encoding
  progressive
• will have been encoding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of encode

First recorded in 1930–35; en- ¹ + code

Explanation

To encode something is to put it into a coded form. During World War II, countries would encode messages so that if they were intercepted, their enemies couldn't understand them. There are various reasons why information might need to be written in code: spies and secret agents need to encode messages so that only people who know the code can decipher their meanings. Computer languages are also thought of as codes, and when you convert information into one of these languages, you also encode it — although this modern meaning is usually shortened to the verb code.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

encode encodes encoded encoding

Cohen found MOTS-c by combing through the 97% of human DNA that doesn’t encode for genes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Scientists believe this unique characteristic could provide entirely new ways to encode, transmit, and process data.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026

Since 2019, Microsoft's Silica project has been trying to encode data on glass plates, in a throwback to the early days of photography, when negatives were also stored on glass.

From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026

Now, the Surge doesn’t think it would be that much effort to encode those promises into law, to be extra careful.

From Slate ● Jan. 17, 2026

The whole fabric of honey bee society depends on communication— on an innate ability to send and receive messages, to encode and decode information.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

Evidence suggests that the human genome encodes more than 200 lectins, which are carbohydrate-binding proteins involved in immune defense and communication between cells.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 16, 2026

Understanding how an animal brain encodes memories and the emotional responses they evoke could lead to better cognitive therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2025

Watson was 25 when he and English biophysicist Francis Crick figured out the double-helix structure of DNA that encodes the essential information for life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025

But when the researchers looked at Arhgap36’s genetic sequence in orange cats, they didn’t find any mutations in the DNA that encodes the Arhgap36 protein.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024

This additional layer of complexity—that DNA encodes a protein that allows DNA to replicate—is important because it provides a critical node for regulation.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Those mutation targets are encoded into mRNA and manufactured into a vaccine—a process that takes about six weeks from the date of the biopsy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

"The significance extends far beyond phages – it suggests that genome language models are beginning to learn the design principles encoded by evolution, opening the door to AI-assisted genome writing."

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Because the detector signals are noisy and highly encoded, the AI learns the complicated relationship between those signals and the actual spectrum of light.

From Science Daily ● May 26, 2026

“Up to that point, the highest number of encoded qubits anyone has done any experiments with was two or three, and they jumped straight to 48,” Fitzsimons explained.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

In this way each new cell will contain a complete set of chromosomes, and all the genetic information encoded within them.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

It may also lead to better ways of transmitting signals between devices and encoding more information within them.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

Another important development is time-bin encoding, a technique that stores information in the arrival times of photons.

From Science Daily ● May 9, 2026

Jargon, while efficiently encoding this knowledge, adds a safety buffer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

This identified a three-gene control hub, LypABC, encoding bacterial proteins.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 2026

And she did give them code—eleven sets of encoding poems, passwords, and frequencies.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein