cryptograph

American  

[krip-tuh-graf, -grahf] / ˈkrɪp təˌgræf, -ˌgrɑf /

noun

1. cryptogram.

2. a system of secret writing; cipher.

3. a device for translating clear text into cipher.

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cryptograph British  

/ -ˌɡrɑːf, ˈkrɪptəʊˌɡræf /

noun

1. something written in code or cipher

2. a code using secret symbols ( cryptograms )

3. a device for translating text into cipher, or vice versa

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Etymology

Origin of cryptograph

First recorded in 1635–45; crypto- + -graph

Example Sentences

A cryptograph used to manually code and decode messages—technology that was decades out-of-date by 2000.

From Slate • May 9, 2018

There are the cherished baths, where Dilly solved his cryptograph ic riddles and Eddie planned the next week's Punch.

From Time Magazine Archive

As he did, the word cryptograph, a few paragraphs below, flashed into his vision like a red traffic light.

From Time Magazine Archive

The manuscript volume and the smaller document are written in different hands," he said, "the cryptograph is of much later date than the book; there is an undoubted proof of the correctness of my surmise.

From A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Verne, Jules

Sometimes she would try reading them backward and transposing the words, as if the message they contained might be in the form of a cryptograph.

From Constance Dunlap by Reeve, Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin)

Related Words

• cipher