Definition

1. Proper Noun:
   • The United States Code: The official, comprehensive, and systematic compilation of the general and permanent federal laws of the United States of America. It is organized by subject matter into titles, chapters, and sections.

Usage

• The term "United States Code" is used as a singular, proper noun to refer to the complete, organized body of federal statutory law. It is often abbreviated as "U.S.C." or "USC."
• It is used to cite specific laws by their title and section number (e.g., Title 18, Section 1001 of the United States Code).

Examples

• Proper Noun:
  • The prohibition is explicitly stated in the United States Code.
  • Lawyers frequently consult the United States Code to determine the current federal statute on a given issue.
  • The relevant statute can be found at 26 U.S.C. § 61, which is Title 26 of the United States Code, Section 61.

Advanced Usage

• "Codified at": A common phrase used to indicate where a specific law is located within the United States Code.
  • The federal wire fraud statute is codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1343.

Variants and Related Words

• U.S.C. / USC: The standard abbreviation for the United States Code.
• Code of Laws: A general term for a systematic collection of laws; the United States Code is the specific code for U.S. federal law.
• Statutory Law: Law created by legislative statutes, which is what the United States Code compiles and organizes.
• Public Law: A law that applies to the general public, which after being enacted is eventually incorporated into the United States Code.

Synonyms

• Federal statutory code: A descriptive synonym emphasizing its nature as a codification of federal statutes.
• U.S. statutes at large (in a broader sense): Refers to the session laws before they are codified and organized into the subject-based United States Code.

Notes

• The United States Code is distinct from the United States Statutes at Large, which is a chronological compilation of laws as they were originally passed by Congress. The Code is the subject-organized, consolidated version.
• It is prepared and published under the authority of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives.

Noun

1. a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States; is prepared and published by a unit of the United States House of Representatives