codex

/ˌkoʊˈdɛks/

/ˈkʌʊdɛks/

Other forms: codices

A codex is an ancient book made of stacked, hand-written pages. A historian might study a medieval codex full of beautiful calligraphy and illustrations decorated with gold leaf.

The ancient Romans invented the codex. When the codex first appeared as a way to bind a manuscript, it was a great improvement over previous methods. One of these was the scroll, a long roll of paper, and another was a wax tablet. Codex is a Latin word used to mean "book of laws," although it's literally "tree trunk." The plural of codex is codices.

Definitions of codex

1. noun

   an unbound manuscript of some ancient classic (as distinguished from a scroll)
   synonyms: leaf-book

   type of:

   holograph, manuscript

   handwritten book or document
2. noun

   an official list of chemicals or medicines etc.
   type of:

   list, listing

   a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics)