■ noun
1》 a system of words, figures, or symbols used to represent others, especially for the purposes of secrecy.
↘a series of letters or numbers assigned to something to classify or identify it.
↘short for dialling ~ .
2》 Computing program instructions.
3》 a systematic collection of laws or statutes: the penal ~.
↘a set of conventions or principles governing behaviour or activity in a particular sphere.
■ verb
1》 convert into a ~.
↘assign a ~ to for purposes of classification or identification.
2》 ( ~ for ) Genetics be the genetic ~ for (an amino acid or protein).
↘be the genetic determiner of (a characteristic).
3》 enter ~ into a computer; program.
Derivatives
~r noun
coding noun & adjective
Origin
ME (orig. denoting a systematic collection of statutes made by one of the later Roman emperors): via OFr. from L. ~x , codic- (see ~x ).