Former Goldman Sachs programmer Sergey Aleynikov’s fate could be decided by a dictionary definition.

Aleynikov is charged in state court with making an unlawful duplication of about 32 megabytes worth of “secret scientific material” from Goldman’s high-frequency trading system — a claim he’s fighting for the second time after a conviction in federal court was overturned on appeal.

The law Aleynikov is accused of violating, however, says that he would be guilty if he made a “tangible” reproduction — something a federal judge found didn’t apply since he transferred digital data.

Justice Daniel Conviser is expected to rule on the “tangible” issue Monday.