encrypt

American  

[en-kript] / ɛnˈkrɪpt /

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.

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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

• encryptation noun
• encrypted adjective
• encryption noun

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

A proxy server typically does not encrypt your connection.

From Salon • Nov. 26, 2025

The browser-based system uses cryptography to encrypt votes, or keep them secret.

From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025

The technology, which promises to power certain computations that are virtually impossible for today’s computers, could transform everything, including the way companies make medicine, invest money, deliver internet and encrypt information.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 10, 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

Related Words

• encipher