To codify something is to organize rules, ideas, or laws into a clear, written system. It turns scattered practices into an official, structured code.
“Codify” combines “code,” from Latin “codex” (book of laws), with the verb‑forming suffix “-ify,” meaning “to make.” It literally means “to make into a code or book of rules.”
When a society codifies its laws, it freezes living customs into text, sometimes changing them simply by writing them down. The act of organizing rules can be as powerful as making new ones.
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