/koh"deks/ , n. , pl. codices /koh"deuh seez', kod"euh-/ .
1. a quire of manuscript pages held together by stitching: the earliest form of book, replacing the scrolls and wax tablets of earlier times.
2. a manuscript volume, usually of an ancient classic or the Scriptures.
3. Archaic. a code; book of statutes.
[ 1575-85; codex, caudex tree-trunk, book (formed orig. from wooden tablets); cf. CODE ]