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encrypt

[en-kript]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to encipher or encode.
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Origin of encrypt

1940–45; en-1 + -crypt (abstracted from cryptic, cryptography, etc.), modeled on encode
Related formsen·cryp·tion, en·cryp·ta·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

enciphercodecipherinscribeencodehideconceal

Examples from the Web for encrypt

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

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

    Little Brother

    Cory Doctorow

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

    Little Brother

    Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for encrypt

encrypt

verb (tr)
  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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Derived Formsencrypted, adjectiveencryption, noun

Word Origin

C20: from en- 1 + crypt, as in crypto-
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 encrypt

v.

1975 in computer sense, from en- (1) + crypt (see crypto-). Related: Encrypted; encrypting; encryption.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
encrypt in Science

encrypt

[ĕn-krĭpt]
  1. To alter information using a code or mathematical algorithm so as to be unintelligible to unauthorized readers.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.