encrypt

American  

[en-kript] / ɛnˈkrɪpt /

verb (used with object)

• encrypts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• encrypted,
  past participle,  past
• encrypting
  present participle

1. to convert (a message or the like) into cipher or code.

   The letter was encrypted before being mailed to protect it from any prying eyes.

2. Computers. to change (digital data) into a form that cannot be read without converting it back using a unique key.

   The protocol encrypts all of your personal information, including credit card number, name, and address, so that it cannot be stolen.

---

encrypt British  

/ ɪnˈkrɪpt /

verb

1. to put (a message) into code

2. to put (computer data) into a coded form

3. to distort (a television or other signal) so that it cannot be understood without the appropriate decryption equipment

---

encrypt Scientific  

/ ĕn-krĭpt /

1. To alter information using a code or mathematical algorithm so as to be unintelligible to unauthorized readers.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• encryptation
  noun
• encryption
  noun
• encrypted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• encrypting
  present
• encrypted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• encrypt
  simple
• encrypts
  simple
• have encrypted
  perfect
• has encrypted
  perfect
• am encrypting
  progressive
• are encrypting
  progressive
• is encrypting
  progressive
• have been encrypting
  perfect progressive
• has been encrypting
  perfect progressive

Past

• encrypted
  simple
• had encrypted
  perfect
• was encrypting
  progressive
• were encrypting
  progressive
• had been encrypting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will encrypt
  simple
• will have encrypted
  perfect
• will be encrypting
  progressive
• will have been encrypting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of encrypt

First recorded in 1940–45; en- ¹ + -crypt (abstracted from cryptic ( def. ), cryptography ( def. ), etc.), modeled on encode ( def. )

Explanation

To encrypt is to convert regular language into a code. Encrypting is a way of keeping secrets. Encrypting is a way of disguising a written message so that most people won't understand it. Encrypting puts a message into a code that will appear to be gibberish. Only someone who knows the code or is an expert in breaking codes — like a cryptographer — will be able to read something encrypted. People don't encrypt their laundry lists or term papers; communications that get encrypted are top secret info, like government reports and messages from spies.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

encrypt encrypts encrypted encrypting

Companies may tell you, for example, that they encrypt biometric data, but they may not tell you the details, so there’s no way to tell how strong their safeguards are.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

The browser-based system uses cryptography to encrypt votes, or keep them secret.

From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025

Unlike Telegram, which does not automatically encrypt messages in its larger-size chat rooms, Signal limits the size of its group chats and keeps encryption as the default.

From Slate ● Mar. 27, 2025

Chinese engineers have turned to it to encrypt data.

From New York Times ● Jan. 10, 2024

By turning the rings, you could encrypt each plaintext letter with a different scrambled alphabet.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Bank A generates and encrypts a Swift payment message containing transfer instructions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

A VPN encrypts all the data sent to and from users’ phones, shielding them from hackers who might be trying to steal it.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

So, just like a VPN, Tor encrypts the traffic between your device and the Tor network and, in that process, your IP is changed to that of the Tor node.

From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2025

"First of all, people underappreciate privacy," says Vytautas Kaziukonis, chief executive at Surfshark, a security software company that encrypts user's online data and aims to make browsing secure.

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2025

As you type, Enigma encrypts your message—and the number of ways it can do this is mind-boggling.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Other objects seized in the police sting included satellite phones, GPS devices, encrypted communication tools and satellite dishes.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Depicted in the Oscar-winning film "The Imitation Game", Bletchley Park, north of London, was a country house where mathematician Alan Turing cracked the code on encrypted Nazi messages.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

In the parking lot, a legal observer helped her download the encrypted messaging app Signal and join her neighborhood rapid-response group.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

To accommodate this, the company shares design files through encrypted servers and protected internal systems.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026

In a blow for Elizebeth’s team, RED’s Enigma messages turned out to be doubly encrypted.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

One common security method involves encrypting data with a massive number known as a public key.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

A VPN also adds a layer of protection against government surveillance by both encrypting internet traffic and routing it through secure servers, often located in different countries.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

Quantum computing has the potential to relatively easily break the global and currently used advanced encryption standard, or AES, which involves the same key being used for both encrypting and decrypting data.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2025

Ransomware is a type of malware which prevents someone from accessing a device and the data stored on it, usually by encrypting files, according to the National Cyber Security Centre.

From BBC ● May 9, 2025

So instead of just encrypting the message with your private key, you also encrypt it with your boss's public key.

From Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Related Words

• encipher