encrypt

[ en-kript ]

verb (used with object)

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

/ 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

/ ĕn-krĭpt /

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

Derived Forms

• enˈcrypted, adjective
• enˈcryption, noun

Other Words From

• en·cryp·tion en·cryp·ta·tion [en-krip-, tey, -sh, uh, n], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of encrypt¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of encrypt¹

C20: from en- ¹+ crypt, as in crypto-

Example Sentences

An encrypted message is then shared over a conventional communication channel and the quantum key is used to decipher it.

From Singularity Hub 

Chi Mak, a naturalized US citizen born in China, is arrested after his brother was stopped at Los Angeles International Airport carrying encrypted disks containing information from Chi.

From MIT Technology Review

The malware was designed to install ransomware, a kind of malware that encrypts a victim’s files in exchange for a ransom.

From TechCrunch

The indictment also notes that Bannon and his alleged co-conspirators began using encrypted messaging apps after learning a federal investigation was underway.

From Fortune

That was a scary prospect for computer security experts, because the fact that such a task is difficult is essential to the way computers encrypt sensitive information.

From Science News

That refers to software that can encrypt chat communications, emails, and more.

From The Daily Beast

There are often steps taken by hackers to use sophisticated mathematical formulas to encrypt their communications.

From The Daily Beast

If the government really wants to stop WikiLeaks, it can encrypt its cables.

From The Daily Beast

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

From Project Gutenberg

You'd encrypt the message with your private key and my public key.

From Project Gutenberg

I'd decrypt it, read it, re-encrypt it with your boss's real public key and send it on.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• encipher