cipher

[ sahy-fer ]

/ ˈsaɪ fər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cipher ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

zero.

any of the Arabic numerals or figures.

Arabic numerical notation collectively.

something of no value or importance.

a person of no influence; nonentity.

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

writing done by such a method; a coded message.

the key to a secret method of writing.

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

verb (used without object)

to use figures or numerals arithmetically.

to write in or as in cipher.

verb (used with object)

to calculate numerically; figure.

to convert into cipher.

Nearby words

Also especially British, cy·pher.

Origin of cipher

1350–1400; Middle English siphre < Medieval Latin ciphra < Arabic ṣifr empty, zero; translation of Sanskrit śūnyā empty

Related formsci·pher·a·ble, adjectiveci·pher·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cipher

He is a cipher who has reduced his own party to near-cipher status.
Modi Crushes Gandhi in India’s Election Landslide|Tunku Varadarajan|May 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Scientists profusely apologized when I left the table at which they had their Cipher.
Word Is Bond: An Ex-Con Explains the 5 Percenters|Daniel Genis|April 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But what of all those people watching at home, waiting for Ann to explain the cipher that is Mittens?
Ann Romney: Mitt’s Secret Weapon Sputters|Michelle Cottle|August 29, 2012|DAILY BEAST
But Allen Barra says he remains a cipher for his actions off the field.
Baseball's Greatest Player?|Allen Barra|February 19, 2010|DAILY BEAST

Near his body is a cipher with the digits of the Fibonacci sequence and amalgams referring to Leonardo da Vinci and his Mona Lisa.
Dan Brown Decoded|The Daily Beast|September 15, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Any time you had a cipher, you were vulnerable to someone smarter than you coming up with a way of breaking it.
Little Brother|Cory Doctorow
Jessie went up to her and showed her Miss Needwood's cipher.
Sowing and Sewing|Charlotte Mary Yonge
He read a diary written chiefly in symbols, and many letters in cipher.
Historical Essays|James Ford Rhodes
In arithmetic they had detected the value of position in the digits, though they missed the grand Indian invention of the cipher.
History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science|John William Draper
Your cipher has not been sent hitherto, because it required a most confidential channel of conveyance.
Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson|Thomas Jefferson

British Dictionary definitions for cipher

cipher

cypher

/ (ˈsaɪfə) /

noun

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

a secret message

the key to a secret message

an obsolete name for zero (def. 1)

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

a person or thing of no importance; nonentity

a design consisting of interwoven letters; monogram

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

verb

to put (a message) into secret writing

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

rare to perform (a calculation) arithmetically

Word Origin for cipher

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cipher

cipher

late 14c., "arithmetical symbol for zero," from Old French cifre "nought, zero," Medieval Latin cifra, with Spanish and Italian cifra, ultimately from Arabic sifr "zero," literally "empty, nothing," from safara "to be empty;" loan-translation of Sanskrit sunya-s "empty." The word came to Europe with Arabic numerals. Originally in English "zero," then "any numeral" (early 15c.), then (first in French and Italian) "secret way of writing; coded message" (a sense first attested in English 1520s), because early codes often substituted numbers for letters. Klein says Modern French chiffre is from Italian cifra.

cipher

"to do arithmetic" (with Arabic numerals), 1520s, from cipher (n.). Meaning "to write in code" is from 1560s. Related: Ciphered; ciphering.

cipher

noun

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

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Origin of cipher

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cipher

cypher

noun

verb

Word Origin for cipher

cipher

cipher