Standard Lemma guide

barcode

noun · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈbɑː.kəʊd/
  • General-American: /ˈbɑɹ.koʊd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)kəʊd

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any set of machine-readable parallel bars or concentric circles, varying in width, spacing, or height, encoding information according to a symbology.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A portion of a gene that identifies a particular species.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, genetics, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

An instance of self-harm, typically with multiple parallel cuts along a line, similar in form to a machine barcode.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: slang

Qualifier: self-harm

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To apply a barcode (machine-readable code) to.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Compound of bar + code. First attested in 1963 for noun sense 1.

Across languages

Translations

68 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: strepieskode — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Afrikaans: staafkode — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Albanian: barkodi — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Arabic: شِفْرَة خَيْطِيَّة (šifra ḵayṭiyya) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Azerbaijani: barkod — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Basque: barra-kode — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Bulgarian: ба́ркод (bárkod) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Catalan: codi de barres — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Cherokee: ᎦᎾᎸᎢ ᎪᏗ (ganalvi godi) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Chinese Cantonese: 條碼 /条码 (tiu4 maa5) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Chinese Mandarin: 條形碼 /条形码 (tiáoxíngmǎ) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Chinese Mandarin: 條碼 /条码 (tiáomǎ) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Czech: čárový kód — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Danish: stregkode — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Dutch: streepjescode — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Dutch: barcode — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Esperanto: strikodo — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Esperanto: strekkodo — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Estonian: vöötkood — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Finnish: viivakoodi — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • French: code-barres — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • French: code à barres — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Georgian: შტრიხ-კოდი (šṭrix-ḳodi) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Georgian: შტრიხკოდი (šṭrixḳodi) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Georgian: შტრიხული კოდი (šṭrixuli ḳodi) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • German: Strichcode — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • German: Balkencode — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • German: Barcode — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Greek: γραμμοκωδικός (grammokodikós) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Hebrew: ברקוד — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Hindi: बारकोड (bārkoḍ) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Hungarian: vonalkód — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Icelandic: strikamerki — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Italian: codice a barre — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Japanese: バーコード (bākōdo) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Kazakh: сызықшалы код (syzyqşaly kod) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Korean: 바코드 (bakodeu) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Korean: 막대표시 (makdaepyosi) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Korean: 줄표시 (julpyosi) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Latvian: svītrkods — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Lithuanian: brūkšninis kodas — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Macedonian: баркод (barkod) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Malay: kod bar — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Māori: waehere tāekaeka — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Norwegian: strekkode — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Persian: بارکد (bârkod) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Persian: رمزینه (ramzine) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Polish: kod kreskowy — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Polish: kod paskowy — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Portuguese: código de barras — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Romanian: cod de bare — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Russian: штрихко́д (štrixkód) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Samogitian: barkods — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Samogitian: brokšnėnės kods — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Serbo-Croatian: бар код — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Serbo-Croatian: bar kod — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Serbo-Croatian: crtični kôd — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Slovak: čiarový kód — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Slovene: črtna koda — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Spanish: código de barras — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Swedish: streckkod — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Thai: บาร์โคด — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Thai: รหัสแท่ง — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Turkish: barkod — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Turkish: bar kod — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Ukrainian: штрих-кодува́ння (štryx-koduvánnja) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Urdu: بارکوڈ (bārkoḍ) — set of machine-readable parallel bars
  • Vietnamese: mã vạch — set of machine-readable parallel bars