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.

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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

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encrypt Scientific  

/ ĕn-krĭpt /

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

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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

VPNs mask your IP address and encrypt your traffic, but websites still can collect data on you through cookies, browser fingerprinting and account logins.

From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2025

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

“He used a substitution cipher to encrypt his message as a backup, in case you figured out the scytale. Right?” she asked James.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Meta says later this year it will offer a confidential virtual machine that encrypts data so the company can’t access the chats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

It also plans to roll out an upgraded security model that encrypts user conversations and data.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

Later this year, Meta plans to roll out Muse Confidential VM, an upgraded security model that encrypts all user conversations and data behind a private key inaccessible even to Meta itself.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 26, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

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

Past plots have involved hiring young men via encrypted apps with the promise of payment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Or use the Signal messaging app, an end-to-end encrypted message service designed to protect your data.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

The information is encrypted and transmitted to a secure database that can only be accessed by San Diego police personnel, according to the department.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

She added to the informant on an encrypted messaging app that she had "picked up some anarchist literature at the social justice center" which "could have some good tips."

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

To keep your messages secure, you encrypted them first, then sent the encryption in Morse.

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

By encrypting your traffic, a VPN prevents your ISP from seeing what type of content you’re accessing, making it harder for them to throttle your connection selectively.

From Salon ● Feb. 12, 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

In fact, the firm's commitment to encrypting messages is so significant that it previously said it would rather be blocked in the UK than weaken the encryption it uses.

From BBC ● May 28, 2024

Still, even encrypting a large dictionary 25 times using different salts took up too much hard-drive space for a basic home computer.

From Underground by Suelette Dreyfus

Related Words

• encipher