Overcode
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A code used to represent multiple (possibly unrelated) data items. countable
"Not only is it possible to construct an overcode collecting together groups of bill items but groups of overcodes can themselves be held collectively by a single higher overcode."
- 2 An established code (signifier) that also acts as a new code, either representing additional (related) meanings, or dividing into various nuances of the original meaning. countable
"Instead of overlaying secondary images by alluding to an existing literary or oral tradition, structural overcodes overlay the secondary images by using technical vocabulary from a different frame of reference."
- 3 Inventory that can no longer be sold (such as items that are past their sell-by date). countable, uncountable
"Other Pepperidge Farm distributors in the San Francisco Bay Area have no overcode returns to speak of and product which does go out of code can be shipped to Pepperidge Farm thrift stores for full credit or sold on the thrift market for a profit, as Mesirow and Morris claim to have done ( See p. 11. above )."
- 1 To use as an overcode for.
"Social interaction would be the place to study how people learn these cultural codes or reasoning structures, which is related to the human ability to overcode meaning in ways that become conventional (Eco 1976)."
- 2 To act as an overcode for.
"In one example, she describes an advertisement depictin a nude female torso in profile. Wegenstein suggests that in this particular advertisement, the breasts overcode the body in a way that the face previously had reign."
- 3 To use a particular code or set of codes too much.
"One of the greatest sources of unreliability is the constant error introduced by the observer because of distortion of his perceptions created by his own needs or values. An observer who sharply disapproves of certain leadership practices, for example, will have difficulty in preventing a bias. He will tend to overcode those categories which best describe his feelings."
- 4 To code too many things or include too many codes in a coding system.
"Coding should be done with great exactness: it is better to "overcode" than to "undercode.""
Example
More examples"Not only is it possible to construct an overcode collecting together groups of bill items but groups of overcodes can themselves be held collectively by a single higher overcode."
Etymology
From over- + code.
More for "overcode"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.