penal code

American

noun

Law.

the aggregate of statutory enactments dealing with crimes and their punishment.

penal code British

noun

the codified body of the laws in any legal system that relate to crime and its punishment

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of penal code

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The government says it will focus on tax, labor and penal code reforms in the coming extraordinary session of Congress.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

The National Security Committee approved the amendment to the penal code, which will now be passed onto the parliament for its first reading.

From Barron's • Nov. 3, 2025

Vietnam was the first to legally state in its penal code that “Ecocide, destroying the natural environment, whether committed in time of peace or war, constitutes a crime against humanity.”

From Salon • Apr. 30, 2025

“It’s not like I open the Bible and the penal code and figure out what to do,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2024

It was the first time the mask had been torn from the penal code of England, and its visage, grim and bloody, exposed to the public eye.

From Sketches of Reforms and Reformers, of Great Britain and Ireland by Stanton, Henry B.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023