Codex
/ˈkoʊdɛks/
Definitions
A manuscript book, especially one made of sheets of parchment or papyrus and bound together.
/ˈkoʊdɛks/
An ancient manuscript book
The museum displayed a rare codex from the Middle Ages.
💡 Simply: Imagine a super old book, written by hand on fancy paper and carefully bound together. That's a codex! Think of it like a really important historical diary.
👶 For kids: A very old book written a long, long time ago.
More Examples
Researchers spent years deciphering the cryptic text in the ancient codex.
How It's Used
"Scholars meticulously examined the ancient codex for clues about Roman society."
"The discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus was a major event for biblical scholarship."
From Latin *codex, *codīcis, meaning 'tree trunk', 'block of wood', later 'book'. It evolved from the use of wooden tablets bound together to form a book.
The word 'codex' was originally used to refer to any collection of written materials, but its meaning narrowed to refer specifically to bound books.
Memory tip
Think of 'code' – a codex contains written information, like a code.
Word Origin
"tree trunk, block of wood"