# code

> English word · Noun · IPA /kəʊd/ · frequency rank #863

## Definitions
1. A short textual designation, often with little relation to the item it represents.
2. A body of law, sanctioned by legislation, in which the rules of law to be specifically applied by the courts are set forth in systematic form; a compilation of laws by public authority; a digest.
3. Any system of principles, rules or regulations relating to one subject.
4. A set of rules for converting information into another form or representation.
5. A set of rules for converting information into another form or representation.
6. A message represented by rules intended to conceal its meaning.
7. A cryptographic system using a codebook that converts words or phrases into codewords.
8. Instructions for a computer, written in a programming language; the input of a translator, an interpreter or a browser, namely: source code, machine code, bytecode.
9. A program.
10. A particular lect or language variety.
11. An emergency requiring situation-trained members of the staff.
12. A set of unwritten rules that bind a social group.

## 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 sense 7 is an ellipsis of code blue (“medical emergency”).

## Easily confused with
- **cop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cop)
- **con** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-con)
- **cow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cow)
- **cos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cos)
- **col** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-col)
- **cox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cox)
- **cue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cue)
- **cor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cor)
- **coo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-coo)
- **cot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cot)
- **Coe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-coe)
- **coz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-coz)
- **coy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-coy)
- **cog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cog)
- **CTE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cte)
- **CPD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cpd)
- **Cov** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cov)
- **CSE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cse)
- **CVD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-cvd)
- **come** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/code-vs-come)

## Common misspellings (4)
`ccode`, `cdoe`, `codde`, `ocde`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/code