Code
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Code. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a systematic collection or digest of laws, classified and simplified. (1) Code Napoléon-The name given to a code promulgated in France in 1804, originally under the name of Code Civil des Français, but altered to Code Napoléon under Bonaparte. (2) Code of Justinian.-[Named after Justinian, who was born of obscure parentage in A. D. 482 or 483; became emperor at Constantinople, April, 527; added Italy and Africa to his empire, and died Nov. 15, 565.] A code of law drawn up under the auspices of the Emperor Justinian. In April, 529, was issued a compilation of useful laws or constitutions from Hadrian to Justinian. In December, 534, a revised code was published, and was accorded the force of law. It was called "Codex Justinianus repetitæ prælectionis." In December, 533, a commission, headed by the cele brated jurist, Trebonius, published an elaborate work called "Digestæ" (things digested), and "Pandectæ" (embracing all). This also received the force of law. Just before the Digest appeared, there came first, by direction of Justinian, an abstract of the greater work. To this was given the name of "Institutiones." New laws subsequently enacted were pub. lished under the name of Novæ or Constitutiones Novellæ, or Authenticæ. They are often quoted as his "Novels." The expression, "Code of Justinian," comprehends the "Code" properly so called, the "Institutes," the "Digest," and the "Novels." The Code of Justinian is a very essential part of the civil law. (3) Code of Theodosius. - [Named after Theodosius II., generally called the younger, who was born on April 10, A. D. 401, and died emperor at Constantinople on July 28, 450.] The Code of Theodosius (Codex Theodosianus) was a collection of laws published in his reign. They acquired legislative force in A. D. 438. (4) In the United States. The acts of Congress have been codified and are spoken of as the United States Code, and in each State the acts of the different legislatures are usually annually printed and periodically codified. Social Economy. - Any set of by-laws or of ethical rules or customs governing conduct of the members of a profession or any special branch of the body politic, as the medical code, the naval code, etc. Cipher Code. A system of arbitrary words to designate prearranged or predetermined words, figures or sentences. See CIPHER WRITING: CODEX.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a systematic compilation of law, authorized to take the place of preceding laws. By the successive enactment of new laws, repeals, amendments, and reenactments, the laws of a country gradually grow into a state of confusion. Only the best trained lawyers know where to find all the law on a given point. When the law of centuries is gathered together and straightened out,--the law on divorce, for instance, being set forth clearly in a single paragraph or chapter, and all dead clauses omitted.--such a compilation is called the code. If approved by legislative authority, it takes the place of all prior law, and is the only law of the land. One of the most famous codes is the Justinian code, prepared by ten Roman lawyers in the reign of the Emperor Justinian. It is the foundation of the most of the law of the civilized world. Another noted code is the code of Napoleon, prepared under the direction of Napoleon Bonaparte. It took effect in 1804-10. The code of Napoleon is the basis of the law of Louisiana, that state having been at one time a French possession. English law has not been codified. Prussian law was codified during the reign of Frederick the Great. In the United States , the most notable code is that prepared for New York under the supervision of the learned David Dudley Field in 1865. Although the legislature of New York could never be brought to adopt this code, it has formed the basis of codes for a score of states from Ohio to Oregon.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both entries treat "code" as purely a legal word, and on that ground they still largely hold: the Code Napoléon remains in force in amended form, and Justinian's compilation is still the root of civil-law systems. What has moved is the American story. Collier's speaks in 1921 of "the United States Code" as an accomplished thing, but the official Code, arranged in titles and still cited that way today, was first published in 1926, and the Uniform Commercial Code, drafted from 1952, went on to do for commercial law across the states what Aiton's admired David Dudley Field never quite managed in New York. The larger change is in the word itself: since Shannon's information theory in the 1948 and the rise of programming, "code" to most readers now means software or the genetic code, senses these entries reach only through a passing note on cipher writing. (Collier's jurist "Trebonius" is now always spelled Tribonian.)
Written for this edition, 2026.