What does recodify mean?
Recodify means to encode something again, most often by placing it into a different code or changing the rules that govern its representation. In computing, the word can describe transforming data from one format or encoding scheme into another. In molecular biology, it has a more specialized meaning: scientists can recodify the genetic code so that certain codons are assigned new meanings, including the production of unusual amino acids. The verb is uncommon outside technical writing but is precise where an existing coding system needs to be replaced or modified. Its ordinary connotation is systematic transformation rather than simple repetition. A person might say that an application recodifies data, or that a research team recodifies the genetic code for a particular experiment.
verbTo encode something again, especially using a different coding system or a modified set of rules.
- To encode information again or convert it into a different code.
- To alter the coding system or rules used by a system, especially a genetic code.
"Researchers recodified the genetic code so that cells could produce a nonstandard amino acid."
"The software recodifies the data before transmitting it across the network."
"Scientists have recodified parts of the bacterial genetic code for experimental purposes."
In synthetic biology, recodifying the genetic code can teach cells to build proteins containing amino acids that nature never intended.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does recodify come from?
Recodify is an English word formed by combining the prefix re-, meaning “again,” with codify, “to express in a code or systematic form.” Codify in turn comes from code, which was borrowed through French from Latin codex, a Latin word meaning “book” and the source of the English word codex.
Related word forms
How recodify is actually used
This is a relatively uncommon verb, used chiefly in technical contexts such as information processing, cryptography, and molecular biology.
Easily confused with recodify
To codify is to express something in a code or set of systematic rules, whereas to recodify is to encode it again, often under changed rules.
Encode can describe the general act of converting information into a coded form; recodify more specifically implies doing so again or changing the coding system.