cipher

[ sahy-fer ]
See synonyms for: cipherciphering on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. any of the Arabic numerals or figures.

  1. Arabic numerical notation collectively.

  2. something of no value or importance.

  3. a person of no influence; nonentity.

  4. a secret method of writing, as by transposition or substitution of letters, specially formed symbols, or the like.: Compare cryptography.

  5. writing done by such a method; a coded message.

  6. the key to a secret method of writing.

  7. a combination of letters, as the initials of a name, in one design; monogram.

verb (used without object)
  1. to use figures or numerals arithmetically.

  2. to write in or as in cipher.

verb (used with object)
  1. to calculate numerically; figure.

  2. to convert into cipher.

Origin of cipher

1
1350–1400; Middle English siphre<Medieval Latin ciphra<Arabic ṣifr empty, zero; translation of Sanskrit śūnyā empty
  • Also especially British, cy·pher .

Other words from cipher

  • ci·pher·a·ble, adjective
  • ci·pher·er, noun

Words Nearby cipher

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cipher in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cipher

cipher

cypher

/ (ˈsaɪfə) /


noun
  1. a method of secret writing using substitution or transposition of letters according to a key

  2. a secret message

  1. the key to a secret message

  2. an obsolete name for zero (def. 1)

  3. any of the Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, etc, to 9) or the Arabic system of numbering as a whole

  4. a person or thing of no importance; nonentity

  5. a design consisting of interwoven letters; monogram

  6. music a defect in an organ resulting in the continuous sounding of a pipe, the key of which has not been depressed

verb
  1. to put (a message) into secret writing

  2. (intr) (of an organ pipe) to sound without having the appropriate key depressed

  1. rare to perform (a calculation) arithmetically

Origin of cipher

1
C14: from Old French cifre zero, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic sifr zero, empty

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