Pl. codices. [a. L. cōdex, later spelling of caudex trunk of a tree, wooden tablet, book, code of laws.]
† 1. = CODE sb.1 1, 2. Obs.
1581. Mulcaster, Positions, xl. (1887), 228. In the fourth booke of Iustinians new Codex, the thirtenth title.
1622. Fletcher, Sp. Curate, IV. vii. The codexes o th law.
1659. Gentl. Call., iv. § 24. 408. The whole codex of Christian precepts.
1753. Scots Mag., XV. Sept., 460/1. A new codex, or body of the laws.
2. A manuscript volume: e.g., one of the ancient manuscripts of the Scriptures (as the Codex Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, etc.), or of the ancient classics.
1845. M. Stuart, O. T. Canon, viii. (1849), 185. Account for the speedy loss or destruction of most codices once in circulation.
1875. Scrivener, Lect. Text N. Test., 26. Tischendorfs great discovery, the Codex Sinaiticus. Ibid., 59. The characters in Codex B are somewhat less in size than those of Codex A.
3. In medicine, a collection of receipts for the preparation of drugs (Syd. Soc. Lex.); spec. the French Pharmacopæia.