From Latin 'caudex' (tree trunk) — evolved from wooden writing tablets to bound pages, as opposed to a scroll.
An ancient manuscript text in book form, as distinct from a scroll; the format of bound pages that became the standard form of the book.
From Latin 'cōdex' (earlier 'caudex'), originally meaning a tree trunk, a block of wood, or wooden writing tablets bound together. The sense development went from 'tree trunk' to 'block of wood' to 'wooden tablets for writing' to 'book of bound leaves.' The word is likely from Proto-Italic *kaud-ek-s, of uncertain deeper etymology. Latin 'cōdex' is also the source of English 'code,' since Roman legal compilations (codices) were the original 'codes' of law. Key
The shift from scroll to codex is one of the most consequential format changes in human history — comparable to the shift from print to digital. Early Christians were among the first to prefer the codex format, possibly because it made it easier to find specific passages for theological argument, giving the codex a religious association that may have helped drive its adoption across the Roman world.
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