encode

American  

[en-kohd] / ɛnˈkoʊd /

verb (used with object)

encoded, encoding

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

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

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

It sends data back by emitting tiny pulses of infrared light that encode electrical signals from the brain.

From Science Daily • Mar. 24, 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

Instead of coding for a viral protein like Covid, these mRNA vaccines encode fragments of tumor-specific proteins.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 5, 2025

The genre’s marginal roots complicate blanket condemnations, since the same raunchy lyrics often encode critiques of class exclusion.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2025

A quadruplet code would have 256 permutations—far more than needed to encode twenty amino acids.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee