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. )

Example Sentences

“That’s it. Then I wait. I wait till someone gives me a message to encrypt.”

From Literature

Using encrypted messaging apps and mapping software, the volunteers -- several of them military veterans -- seek to shadow the federal officers as they comb the city for immigrants, to share their whereabouts and document arrests.

From Barron's

Speaking over encrypted social media they paint a picture of a chaotic environment where "maintenance work on the equipment is practically not happening".

From BBC

BUDs could capture premium programming at no cost because initially the analog-TV signals weren’t encrypted by broadcasters.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ott also is alleged to have handed over an encrypted laptop containing "an electronic security hardware for secure electronic communication not publicly known".

From Barron's

Related Words

• encipher