codex Latin · revision 3672

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *keh₂u-d-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkoː.dɛks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔː.deks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cōdex''' ''m'' (genitive cōdicis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a later form of [[caudex]] “tree trunk”, with the rustic change of /au/ to /ō/.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Georges 1913) ''Caudex'' is [[inh|itc-pro|*kaud-ek-]], probably derived from [[cauda]] “tail”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Georges finds it in Plautus (c. 250–184 BC) for the wooden block to which slaves were chained.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense, shared with ''caudex'', was a tree trunk or a block of wood, the block to which a slave was chained, and as an insult a blockhead, as in Petronius.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016) It came to mean a writing tablet, a book or notebook, and a register, as in Cicero.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ De Vaan notes that ''codex'' is the form always used of books.^(de Vaan 2008) In late antiquity it was a code of laws, as the ''Codex Theodosianus'' and ''Codex Iustinianus''.^(Gaffiot 2016) English ''code'' came from it through Old French, and ''codex'', “manuscript volume”, was borrowed in 1845.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a slave's block.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a register.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius mentions a will written in two books.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 528–534 AD – The Code of Justinian is compiled.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1845 – English ''codex'' is borrowed.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tree trunk; a block of wood (to which slaves were chained).^(Georges 1913)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(insult)'' A blockhead.^(Georges 1913)

+ # A book, notebook; writing tablets.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A register.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' A [[m|en|code]] of laws.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[caudex]]

+ * [[en|code]]

+ * [[en|codex]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}