encrypt

[en-kript]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR encrypt ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to encipher or encode.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for encrypt

Contemporary Examples of encrypt

That refers to software that can encrypt chat communications, emails, and more.
How to Keep the NSA at Bay: The Tricks From Privacy Experts
Winston Ross
June 8, 2013
There are often steps taken by hackers to use sophisticated mathematical formulas to encrypt their communications.
Did Iran’s Cyber-Army Hack Into the IAEA’s computers?
Eli Lake
December 5, 2012
If the government really wants to stop WikiLeaks, it can encrypt its cables.
How the State Department Can Stop the Next WikiLeaks
James C. Goodale
December 1, 2010

Historical Examples of encrypt

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)

to put (a message) into code

to put (computer data) into a coded form

to distort (a television or other signal) so that it cannot be understood without the appropriate decryption equipment

Derived Formsencrypted, adjectiveencryption, noun

Word Origin for encrypt

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

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

Science definitions for encrypt