Standard Lemma guide

Unicode

name · 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.

  • US: /ˈjunɪˌkoʊd/
  • UK: /ˈjuːnɪˌkəʊd/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊd

1

name

Meaning 1

A series of character encoding standards intended to support the characters used by a large number of the world’s languages.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: international standards

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • This character isn't in Unicode.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

The Unicode standards, together with standards for representing character strings as byte strings.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • convert to Unicode

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

name

Meaning 3

Alternative letter-case form of Unicode.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Characters from a contextually different script, often used in a nonstandard fashion. Sometimes used as an antonym to the characters of the Latin alphabet.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, informal, uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • Since most users on the site are westerners, we have banned Unicode in all text input boxes.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Published as a draft proposal in 1988, “intended to suggest a unique, unified, universal encoding”. From uni- + code.

Across languages

Translations

67 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Amharic: ዩኒኮድ (yunikod) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Arabic: يُونِيكُود (yūnīkūd) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Armenian: Յունիկոդ (Yunikod) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Belarusian: Юніко́д (Junikód) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Bengali: ইউনিকোড (iunikōḍ) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Blin: ዩኒኮድ (yunikod) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Bulgarian: Унико́д (Unikód) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Catalan: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Chinese Cantonese: 統一碼 /统一码 (tung2 jat1 maa5) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Chinese Cantonese: 萬國碼 /万国码 (maan6 gwok3 maa5) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Chinese Cantonese: 單一碼 /单一码 (daan1 jat1 maa5) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Chinese Mandarin: 統一碼 /统一码 (tǒngyīmǎ) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Chinese Mandarin: 萬國碼 /万国码 (wànguómǎ) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Chinese Mandarin: 單一碼 /单一码 (dānyīmǎ) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Czech: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Danish: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Dutch: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Esperanto: Unikodo — series of computer encoding standards
  • Finnish: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • French: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Georgian: უნიკოდი (uniḳodi) — series of computer encoding standards
  • German: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Greek: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Hebrew: יוניקוד (yunikod) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Hindi: यूनिकोड (yūnikoḍ) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Hungarian: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Igbo: Yunikod — series of computer encoding standards
  • Indonesian: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Interlingua: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Italian: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Japanese: ユニコード (Yunikōdo) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Kannada: ಯುನಿಕೋಡ್ (yunikōḍ) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Khün: ᨿᩪᨶᩥᨤ᩠ᨯᩰᨯ᩼ — series of computer encoding standards
  • Korean: 유니코드 (Yunikodeu) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Latvian: Unikods — series of computer encoding standards
  • Lithuanian: Unikodas — series of computer encoding standards
  • Māori: waehereao — series of computer encoding standards
  • Marathi: युनिकोड (yunikoḍ) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Mongolian: Юникод (Junikod) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Norwegian: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Persian: یونیکد (yuni-kod) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Polish: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Portuguese: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Romanian: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Russian: Юнико́д (Junikód) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Russian: Унико́д (Unikód) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Sebat Bet Gurage: ዩኒኮድ — series of computer encoding standards
  • Serbo-Croatian: Уникод — series of computer encoding standards
  • Serbo-Croatian: Unikod — series of computer encoding standards
  • Sindhi: يونيڪوڊ (eonekoḍ) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Upper Sorbian: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Spanish: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Swedish: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Tagalog: Yunikowd — series of computer encoding standards
  • Tamil: யூனிக்கோடு (yūṉikkōṭu) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Telugu: విశ్వ సంకేత మాల (viśva saṅkēta māla) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Telugu: యూనీకోడ్ (yūnīkōḍ) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Thai: ยูนิโคด (yooníkôht) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Tigrinya: ዩኒኮድ (yunikod) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Turkish: Evrensel Kod — series of computer encoding standards
  • Turkish: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Ukrainian: Юніко́д (Junikód) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Uyghur: يۇنىكود (yunikod) — series of computer encoding standards
  • Vietnamese: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Welsh: Unicode — series of computer encoding standards
  • Xamtanga: ዩኒኮድ — series of computer encoding standards
Real reading context

Unicode in complete knowledge articles