noun
codex
KOH-deks/ˈkəʊdeks/
An ancient handwritten book.
The open codex contains handwritten pages.
Etymology
The Latin word for “book” had an earlier literal meaning of “tree trunk,” connected with books made from wax-covered wooden writing tablets. English codex preserves the book sense, especially for an ancient handwritten volume.
In context
the miniature is in a very old manuscript of the Divine Comedy the Codex venicius
More examples
- Each page of the codex was copied by hand.
- The conservator repaired the codex’s damaged binding.
- Scholars compared the codex with another surviving manuscript.
Forms
codex · codices · codexes
Similar words
- manuscript
- A manuscript is handwritten material generally; a codex is specifically a bound book form.
- scroll
- A scroll is rolled; a codex has pages bound along an edge.