Codify
/ˈkoʊ.dɪ.faɪ/noun
To arrange laws, rules, or information into a systematic code.
Did you know?Codify comes from Latin codex, originally a block of wood or a book of wooden tablets, so the word’s hidden history is about binding authority into a fixed written form.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Latin
Latin
codex
“a tree trunk; later, a set of wooden tablets bound together, then a book”
Late Latin
Latin
codificare
“to arrange into a code or system”
16th–17th Century
French/English
codifier
“to reduce laws or rules to a code”
Early 19th Century
English
codify
“to put into a systematic code”
Modern English
English
codify
“to arrange or systematize according to a code”