encrypt

[ en-kript ]
/ ɛnˈkrɪpt /

verb (used with object)

to encipher or encode.

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Origin of encrypt

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

OTHER WORDS FROM encrypt

en·cryp·tion, en·cryp·ta·tion, noun

Words nearby encrypt

encrinite, encroach, encroachment, encrust, encrustation, encrypt, encryption, enculturate, enculturation, encumber, encumbrance
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for encryption

British Dictionary definitions for encryption

encrypt
/ (ɪnˈkrɪpt) /

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 forms of encrypt

encrypted, 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

Scientific definitions for encryption

encrypt
[ ĕn-krĭpt ]

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

Cultural definitions for encryption

encryption

The process of encoding a message so that it can be read only by the sender and the intended recipient. Encryption systems often use two keys, a public key, available to anyone, and a private key that allows only the recipient to decode the message. (See also cryptography.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.