pseudocode

See also: Pseudocode and pseudo-code

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Pre-Greekder.?

Ancient Greek ψεύδω (pseúdō)

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ēs

Proto-Hellenic *-ēs

Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs)

Ancient Greek -ής (-ḗs)

Ancient Greek ψευδής (pseudḗs)der.

Middle English pseudo-

English pseudo-

Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂-

Proto-Italic *kūdō

Latin cūdō?

Proto-Indo-European *keh₂ulisder.

Latin caulis?

Latin caudex

Latin cōdex

Old French codebor.

Middle English code

English code

English pseudocode

From pseudo- + code.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

pseudocode (countable and uncountable, plural pseudocodes) (programming)

1. A description of a computer programming algorithm that uses the structural conventions of programming languages but omits detailed subroutines or language-specific syntax.
   • 2003 December 2, John Dalbey, “PSEUDOCODE STANDARD”, in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo‎^[1], archived from the original on 8 February 2026:

     In general the vocabulary used in the pseudocode should be the vocabulary of the problem domain, not of the implementation domain. The pseudocode is a narrative for someone who knows the requirements (problem domain) and is trying to learn how the solution is organized.

   • 2026 May 21 (last accessed), Nels Frazier, “How to Write Pseudocode”, in University of Wyoming‎^[2], archived from the original on 21 May 2026, page 1:

     Think of pseudocode as a step-by-step verbal outline of your code that you can later transcribe into a programming language.

2. Any format or language that resembles a programming language but is not.

Derived terms

• pseudocoded

Translations

description of a computer programming algorithm

• Basque: sasikode
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 偽代碼 / 伪代码 (zh) (wěidàimǎ), 虛擬代碼 / 虚拟代码 (xūnǐ dàimǎ)

• Czech: pseudokód m
• Dutch: pseudocode (nl) m
• Finnish: pseudokoodi
• French: pseudo-code (fr) m
• German: Pseudocode m
• Hungarian: pszeudokód (hu)
• Italian: pseudocodice m
• Japanese: 擬似コード (giji-kōdo)
• Korean: 의사코드 (uisakodeu), 슈도코드 (syudokodeu)
• Polish: pseudokod (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: pseudocódigo m
• Romanian: pseudocod n
• Russian: псевдоко́д (ru) m (psevdokód)
• Spanish: pseudocódigo (es) m
• Swedish: pseudokod (sv) c

Dutch

Etymology

From pseudo- +‎ code.

Noun

pseudocode m (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. (programming) pseudocode

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /psø.do.kɔd/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

pseudocode m (plural pseudocodes)

1. alternative form of pseudo-code