codex

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The finest known example of such a codex is the Papyrus of Nebseni (Brit.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A manuscript volume, especially of a classic work or of the Scriptures.
  2. Word History
    Latin cōdex, the source of our word, is a variant of caudex, a wooden stump to which petty criminals were tied in ancient Rome, rather like our stocks. This was also the word for a book made of thin wooden strips coated with wax upon which one wrote. The usual modern sense of codex, "book formed of bound leaves of paper or parchment,” is due to Christianity. By the first century B.C. there existed at Rome notebooks made of leaves of parchment, used for rough copy, first drafts, and notes. By the first century A.D. such manuals were used for commercial copies of classical literature. The Christians adopted this parchment manual format for the Scriptures used in their liturgy because a codex is easier to handle than a scroll and because one can write on both sides of a parchment but on only one side of a papyrus scroll. By the early second century all Scripture was reproduced in codex form. In traditional Christian iconography, therefore, the Hebrew prophets are represented holding scrolls and the Evangelists holding codices.

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Examples (50)

  • The Egg contains my genetic codex, and pure Power. —  Lilith Saintcrow - [Dante Valentine 1] - Working for the Devil
  • I barely knew what a codex was and would very likely have defined the word as meaning "cipher" or "system." —  EQMM, August 2005
  • The Dresden codex, another critical document uncovered around the same time, was used by diviners to keep track of days and make prophecy. —  Omni: February 1995
  • Coming into possession of a mysterious Mayan codex, our hero plunges into the wilds of Guatemala and discovers, after arduous trials, the hidden land of Mictolan on the far side of the titular radioactive luminous span, where he falls in love with the beauteous Itzá, introduces rudimentary engineering principles to the benighted natives, foils the evil dwarfish priest Kinchi-Haman, and earns the name Itzimin-Chac, herald of Kukulcan. —  Asimov's SF, September 2006
  • This codex was sold about a year and a half ago and has been sent to Augsburg to be restored by Gregor Wurst. —  Evangelical Textual Criticism
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin cōdex, cōdic-, tree trunk, wooden tablet, book, variant of caudex, trunk.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = D. G. codex = Danish kodex = French codex (in sense 3) = Spanish códice = Portuguese codice, codex, = Italian codico, now codice, from Latin codex: see code.
 

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/ˈkoʊdɛks/
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