What is the name of the Buddhist monastic code?

The name of the Buddhist monastic code is the Vinaya.

Vinaya means “discipline” or “training” and refers to the rules, procedures, and ethical standards governing Buddhist monks and nuns. It regulates conduct, communal harmony, ordination, confession, handling disputes, and everyday monastic life. The Buddha’s teaching is sometimes called the Dhamma-Vinaya, joining doctrine with disciplined practice.

The Vinaya is also the name of a major scriptural tradition. In the Theravada canon, the Vinaya Piṭaka is one of the three divisions of the Tipiṭaka, alongside the Sutta Piṭaka and Abhidhamma Piṭaka. Its rules are organized around the Pāṭimokkha, a code recited by the monastic community on observance days, together with explanations and stories describing how individual rules arose.

A common mix-up is treating Vinaya as a synonym for every Buddhist scripture. Sūtras contain teachings and discourses, while Abhidhamma or Abhidharma analyzes doctrine; Vinaya specifically concerns monastic discipline. Different Buddhist traditions preserve distinct Vinaya lineages, but the term remains the standard name for the monastic code.