Standard Lemma guide

codon

noun · 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: /ˈkəʊ.dɒn/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈkoʊ.dɑn/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A handbell used for summoning monks.

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

The "bell" or flaring mouth of a trumpet.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A sequence of three adjacent nucleotides, which encode for a specific amino acid during protein synthesis or translation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, microbiology, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a specific sequence of three adjacent nucleotides on a strand of DNA or RNA that specifies the genetic code information for synthesizing a particular amino acid

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sequence

History

Etymology

From Latin codon, from Ancient Greek κώδων (kṓdōn).

From code + -on.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: codó — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Chinese Mandarin: 密碼子 /密码子 (mìmǎzǐ) — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Czech: kodon — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Estonian: koodon — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Finnish: kodoni — sequence of three nucleotides
  • French: codon — sequence of three nucleotides
  • German: Codon — sequence of three nucleotides
  • German: Basentriplett — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Hungarian: kodon — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Italian: codone — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Japanese: コドン (kodon) — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Japanese: 遺伝暗号 (iden'angō) — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Kashubian: kòdon — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Khmer: ក្រមាណូ (krorm mea no) — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Māori: pūihokarihi — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Polish: kodon — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Portuguese: códon — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Russian: кодо́н (kodón) — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Russian: три́плет (tríplet) — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Slovak: kodón — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Slovene: kodon — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Spanish: codón — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Swedish: kodon — sequence of three nucleotides
  • Ukrainian: кодо́н (kodón) — sequence of three nucleotides