decoding

American  

[dee-koh-ding] / diˈkoʊ dɪŋ /

noun

1. the act, process, or result of extracting meaning or usable information, as from a code, written or spoken symbols, or an electronic signal.

   The device that performs the decoding is called a digital to analog converter.

   Recent decodings of the hieroglyphs at Palenque refer to dates beyond the end of the Mayan calendar.

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adjective

1. relating to the process of extracting meaning or usable information, as from a code or an electronic signal.

   The decoding algorithm will have to discern a valid signal from the noise.

Etymology

Origin of decoding

First recorded in 1895–1900; decod(e) ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun; decod(e) ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective

Example Sentences

The company promises Ising will deliver up to three times higher accuracy for the decoding process central to quantum error correction.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

“I’m all about decoding the rhythms of the music,” she adds.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

Exxon’s algae work was done in conjunction with Synthetic Genomics, a company founded by Craig Venter, a pioneer in decoding the human genome, that later operated under the name Viridos.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

Encoding converts digital data into these pages, while decoding translates them back into usable information.

From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026

Whether public or private, accounting is a peculiar blend of facts and arbitrary procedures which usually require decoding.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Related Words

• adaptation
• explanation
• reading
• rendering
• rendition
• transcription
• version