codice

Forms

codice m (plural codici)^[1] The old form is Old Italian codico.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin cōdex (“tree trunk; writing tablets; book”).^{[5][6][7][8][1]} The Latin word first meant a tree trunk, then a wooden tablet for writing, then a set of tablets joined together, and so a book, an account book and a collection of laws.^{[5][6][9][10]} Its legal sense spread through the European languages thanks to the “Codex Iustinianus”, the code of Justinian, which became the code par excellence.^[6]

“Cōdex” is a younger form of caudex (“tree trunk”), with the rustic change of “au” to “o”.^[1][11] De Vaan thinks “caudex” was derived from cauda (“tail”), and gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *keh₂u-d- (“cleaved, separate”).^[11] DEI too suggested a link with “cauda”, for the lower part of the tree.^[9]

The same learned word is French code, Catalan codi, Spanish código and Portuguese código.^[9][6][12] LEI follows Corominas and Kahane in deriving the old form Old Italian codico from a Byzantine form of the name of Justinian's code, spread by the law school of Bologna.^[13] The Latin word also survives in popular form in Romansh cudesch (“book”).^[13][12] Codificare (1886) and codificazione (1847) follow French “codifier” and “codification”, words that arose after the Napoleonic codes.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Sienese poet Ruggieri Apugliese, in the middle of the 13th century.^[4] Its Old Italian senses are a collection of laws, in particular part of Justinian's collection, often named together with the Digest, and a bound manuscript volume.^[4] DELI finds the sense “manuscript book” in the 14th-century translation of the Bible, which says that the Latin copies are “almost as many versions as codices” (tanti esemplari quasi, quanti codici).^[5][14]

Semantic evolution

Francesco da Buti used the word before 1406 for the body of laws governing a branch of law.^[5] With the study of manuscripts came a vocabulary for describing them: codice adespoto “without the author's name” (1768), codice archetipo (1851), codice acefalo “lacking its first leaves” (1862).^[13][14] Codice diplomatico, a collection of documents on a city or an institution, is recorded from 1792.^[13]

The sense of a system of conventional signals is recorded in 1932, and the word later took in genetics (codice genetico), communication theory and computing.^[5][7][15] The codice a barre (bar code) is found in La Repubblica in 1985.^[14] In everyday speech il codice is the penal code, and sfiorare il codice means to do something close to a crime.^[7][8][10]

Timeline

• Mid-13th century – Ruggieri Apugliese uses the word for Justinian's code.^[4]
• About 1325 – GRADIT's date for the word.^[7][8]
• 14th century – Codice “manuscript book” in the Italian Bible.^[5]
• Before 1406 – Francesco da Buti uses it for a body of laws.^[5]
• 1768 – Codice adespoto in Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti.^[13]
• 1847 – Codificazione, after French codification.^[5]
• 1886 – Codificare, after French codifier.^[5][6]
• 1932 – The sense “code of signals”.^[5]
• 1985 – Codice a barre in La Repubblica.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A codex, a manuscript book, as opposed to a printed one: La biblioteca conserva un codice del Trecento con le opere di Dante.^{[7][8][15][16]}
2. (law) A code, a systematic collection of the laws on a branch of law or a subject: codice civile, codice penale, codice della strada.^{[7][8][15][16]}
3. (colloquial) The penal code.^[7][8][10]
4. A set of rules or customs, written or not, that governs a behaviour or activity: codice d'onore, codice deontologico.^[7][15][17]
5. A system of signs and of rules for combining them, used to communicate: codice linguistico.^[7][15][16]
6. A system of letters, numbers or symbols with conventional meanings, used for brevity or secrecy; a cipher: un messaggio in codice.^[7][16]
7. A sequence of characters that identifies a person or thing: codice fiscale (tax code), codice di avviamento postale (postcode).^[15][16]
8. (computing) Code; the instructions that make up a program.^[7][15]
9. (biology) Codice genetico, the genetic code.^[17][14]

Word family

• codificare
• codifica
• codificazione
• decodificare
• sottocodice
• codicistico

Related words

• codicillo
• codicologia
• Latin caudex
• French code

Usage notes

Codice a barre is a bar code, and nome in codice a code name.^[14][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
3. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 305
4. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1000
10. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
14. ^ a b c d e f Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
15. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli