Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Law A supplement or appendix to a will.
  • noun A supplement or appendix.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A writing by way of supplement to a will, and intended to be considered as a part of it, containing anything which the testator wishes to add, or a revocation or explanation of something contained in the will.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Law) A clause added to a will.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun law An addition or supplement that explains, modifies, or revokes a will or part of one.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a supplement to a will; a testamentary instrument intended to alter an already executed will

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French codicille, from Latin cōdicillus, diminutive of cōdex, cōdic-, codex; see codex.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin codicillus, diminutive of codex: compare French codicille. See code

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Examples

  • A vague sentence that committed him to nothing even if he lived especially as he was about to withdraw his claim for the bridge site, his one serious difficulty with the Corporation, and the codicil was a provision for his death.

    Later Articles and Reviews W.B. Yeats 2000

  • But you may not know the codicil, which is that if you don't own a boat, all you get is a mouthful of salt water.

    Wizards of Wall Street Have No Real Answers 2003

  • But you may not know the codicil, which is that if you don't own a boat, all you get is a mouthful of salt water.

    Wizards of Wall Street Have No Real Answers 2003

  • After signing what is called the codicil to his will, Captains Hardy and Blackwood joined him on the poop to receive his instructions.

    Drake Nelson and Napoleon Runciman, Walter 1919

  • The paper was a will, or, as I heard long after, a thing called a codicil -- a contrivance what you add to a will.

    The Torch and Other Tales Eden Phillpotts 1911

  • A codicil is a supplement or addition to a will, either explaining or altering former dispositions; it may be written on the same or separate paper, and is to be witnessed and attested in the same manner as the original document.

    The Book of Household Management Isabella Mary 1861

  • A codicil is a supplement or addition to a will, either explaining or altering former dispositions; it may be written on the same or separate paper, and is to be witnessed and attested in the same manner as the original document.

    The Book of Household Management Isabella Mary 1861

  • That signature to the codicil might be his or might not.

    Orley Farm Anthony Trollope 1848

  • One of these days, over the Taiwan Straits or Central Asia, we will learn that eternal air superiority is not guaranteed to the United States as some kind of codicil to Manifest Destiny.

    Matthew Yglesias » Government for Sale 2010

  • "I reckon," he continued, solemnly, peering at the other from under his rusty hat-brim, "I reckon when you see him, maybe you'll want to put a kind of codicil to that deed to the 'Herald.'"

    The Gentleman from Indiana Booth Tarkington 1907

Comments

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  • I like something about this word, and it isn't exactly the mouthfeel. I think it's the way it's spelled.

    April 28, 2008

  • Eyefeel?

    April 29, 2008

  • Eyefeel. Yes. Exactly.

    April 29, 2008

  • Kind of squishy-like, then. ;-)

    April 29, 2008