verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of codify
Explanation
To codify is to arrange information in a logical order that others can follow. Legislators may try to codify, or gather and organize, all laws related to a particular issue. When you look at the word codify you can probably guess that it's related to the word code. Warriors live by a code. Building inspectors check that a building and its systems are up to code. Hockey players use "the code" to determine when — and why — to fight on the ice. All of these codes are clear to the people who use them because someone in the past made an effort to codify the various rules into an organized system.
Vocabulary lists containing codify
Vocabulary from the Twelfth Republican Debate, March 10, 2016
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Content Summary 4.7: Early Modern Western Society and Culture
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President Obama's Remarks on Spying Scandal
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The poor conditions were also the backdrop for a push in 1980 by the New Progressive Party governor at the time, Carlos Romero Barceló, to codify voting rights for prisoners.
From Salon • May 6, 2026
“Because there is virtually no room for security or safety failures, we deeply understand these strict requirements and codify them into a set of policies for the agent.”
From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said he would ask Congress to "codify" the plan and would discuss it further at the Davos World Economic Forum later this month.
From BBC • Jan. 7, 2026
She also spoke of working “with Congress to codify these reforms,” an acknowledgment that the Department of Education was created by an act of Congress.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 18, 2025
He had tried to codify the evil uses of might by individuals, so that he might set bounds to them by the impersonal justice of the state.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
