codex

UK: /ˈkəʊdɛks/ US: /ˈkoʊdɛks/ ,(kō′deks)

Inflections of 'codex' (n): npl: codices

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

co•dex /ˈkoʊdɛks/   n. [countable] , pl. co•di•ces 

/ˈkoʊdəˌsiz, ˈkɑdə-/.  
1. Literature a book of writing written by hand, usually of a classic or the Scriptures.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

co•dex  (kō′deks), n., pl. co•di•ces 

(kō′də sēz′, kod′ə-). 
1. Literature a quire of manuscript pages held together by stitching: the earliest form of book, replacing the scrolls and wax tablets of earlier times.
2. Literature a manuscript volume, usually of an ancient classic or the Scriptures.
3. [Archaic.] a code;
   book of statutes.

• Latin cōdex, caudex tree-trunk, book (formed origin, originally from wooden tablets); compare code
• 1575–85

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

codex / ˈkəʊdɛks/ noun ( codices / ˈkəʊdɪˌsiːz ˈkɒdɪ-/)

1. a volume, in book form, of manuscripts of an ancient text
2. a legal code

Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin: tree trunk, wooden block, book