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code

noun

  1. system for encrypting text
  2. a compilation of laws
  3. A short symbol, often with little relation to the item it represents
  4. computer program instructions (source code)
L2238 on Wikidata ↗

verb

  1. make into a code, encrypt
  2. write software, writing computer programs
  3. be encoded for a certain function, as with genes
  4. medical patient being in cardiac arrest
L22618 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /kəʊd/ / /koʊd/

name

  1. A surname.

noun

  1. Alternative form of cod.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English code (“system of law”), from Old French code (“system of law”), from Latin cōdex, later form of caudex (“the stock or stem of a tree, a board or tablet of wood smeared over with wax, on which the ancients originally wrote; hence, a book, a writing.”). Doublet of codex. Verb etymology 1, verb sense 7 is an ellipsis of code blue (“medical emergency”).

  1. To write software programs.

    I learned to code on an early home computer in the 1980s.

  2. To add codes to (a data set).

    The resulting citation collection was databased and coded for meaning, etymon, and date range (earliest and latest occurrence found).

  3. To categorise by assigning identifiers from a schedule, for example CPT coding for medical insurance purposes.
  4. To encode.

    We should code the messages we send out on Usenet.

  5. To encode a protein.
  6. To call a hospital emergency code.

    coding in the CT scanner

  7. Of a patient, to suffer a sudden medical emergency (a code blue) such as cardiac arrest.