From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Code \Code\ (k[=o]d), n. [F., fr. L. codex, caudex, the stock or
stem of a tree, a board or tablet of wood smeared over with
wax, on which the ancients originally wrote; hence, a book, a
writing.]
1. A body of law, sanctioned by legislation, in which the
rules of law to be specifically applied by the courts are
set forth in systematic form; a compilation of laws by
public authority; a digest.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The collection of laws made by the order of Justinian
is sometimes called, by way of eminence, "The Code" .
--Wharton.
[1913 Webster]
2. Any system of rules or regulations relating to one
subject; as, the medical code, a system of rules for the
regulation of the professional conduct of physicians.
[1913 Webster]
3. Any set of symbols or combinations of symbols used for
communication in any medium, such as by telegraph or
semaphore. See {Morse code}, and {error-correcting code}.
[PJC]
Note: A system of rules for making communications at sea by
means of signals has been referred to as the
{naval code}.
[1913 Webster]
4. Any set of standards established by the governing
authority of a geopolitical entity restricting the ways
that certain activities may be performed, especially the
manner in which buildings or specific systems within
buildings may be constructed; as, a building code; a
plumbing code; a health code.
[PJC]
5. Any system used for secrecy in communication, in which the
content of a communication is converted, prior to
transmission, into symbols whose meaning is known only to
authorized recipients of the message; such codes are used
to prevent unauthorized persons from learning the content
of the communication. The process of converting a
communication into secret symbols by means of a code is
called {encoding} or {encryption}. However, unauthorized
persons may learn the code by various means, as in
{code-breaking}.
[PJC]
6. An {error-correcting code}. See below.
[PJC]
7. (Computers) The set of instructions for a computer program
written by a programmer, usually in a programming language
such as Fortran, C, Cobol, Java, C++, etc.; also, the
executable binary {object code}. All such programs except
for the binary {object code} must be converted by a
compiler program into {object code}, which is the
arrangement of data bits which can be directly interpreted
by a computer.
[PJC]
{Code civil} or {Code Napoleon}, a code enacted in France in
1803 and 1804, embodying the law of rights of persons and
of property generally. --Abbot.
{error-correcting code} (Computers) A set of symbols used to
represent blocks of binary data, in which the original
block of data is represented by a larger block of data
which includes additional bits arranged in such a way that
the original data may be read even if one or more of the
bits of the encoded data is changed, as in a noisy
communicaiton channel. Various codes are available which
can correct different numbers or patterns of errors in the
transmitted data. Such codes are used to achieve higher
accuracy in data transmission, and in data storage devices
such as disk drives and tape drives.
{object code} (Computers) the arrangement of bits stored in
computer memory or a data storage device which, when fed
to the instruction processor of a computer's central
processing unit, can be interpreted directly as
instructions for execution.
{genetic code} (Biochemistry, genetics) The set of
correspondences between sequences of three bases (codons)
in a RNA chain to the amino acid which those three bases
represent in the process of protein synthesis. Thus, the
sequence UUU codes for phenylalanine, and AUG codes for
methionine. There are twenty-one naturally-occurring amino
acids, and sixty-four possible arrangements of three bases
in RNA; thus some of the amino acids are represented by
more than one codon. Several codons do not represent amino
acids, but cause termination of the synthesis of a growing
amnio acid chain.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
Note: The genetic code is represented by the following table:
The Genetic Code
=====================================================
UUU Phenylalanine (Phe) AUU Isoleucine (Ile)
UCU Serine (Ser) ACU Threonine (Thr)
UAU Tyrosine (Tyr) AAU Asparagine (Asn)
UGU Cysteine (Cys) AGU Serine (Ser)
UUC Phe AUC Ile
UCC Ser ACC Thr
UAC Tyr AAC Asn
UGC Cys AGC Ser
UUA Leucine (Leu) AUA Ile
UCA Ser ACA Thr
UAA STOP AAA Lysine (Lys)
UGA STOP AGA Arginine (Arg)
UUG Leu AUG Methionine (Met) or START
UCG Ser ACG Thr
UAG STOP AAG Lys
UGG Tryptophan (Trp) AGG Arg
CUU Leucine (Leu) GUU Valine Val
CCU Proline (Pro) GCU Alanine (Ala)
CAU Histidine (His) GAU Aspartic acid (Asp)
CGU Arginine (Arg) GGU Glycine (Gly)
CUC Leu GUC (Val)
CCU Pro GCC Ala
CAC His GAC Asp
CGC Arg GGC Gly
CUA Leu GUA Val
CCA Pro GCA Ala
CAA Glutamine (Gln) GAA Glutamic acid (Glu)
CGA Arg GGA Gly
CUG Leu GUG Val
CCG Pro GCG Ala
CAG Gln GAG Glu
CGG Arg GGG Gly
[PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
genetic code
n 1: the ordering of nucleotides in DNA molecules that carries
the genetic information in living cells
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