cipher

[ sahy-fer ]

/ ˈsaɪ fər /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR cipher ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

zero.

any of the Arabic numerals or figures.

Arabic numerical notation collectively.

something of no value or importance.

a person of no influence; nonentity.

a secret method of writing, as by transposition or substitution of letters, specially formed symbols, or the like. Compare cryptography.

writing done by such a method; a coded message.

the key to a secret method of writing.

a combination of letters, as the initials of a name, in one design; monogram.

verb (used without object)

to use figures or numerals arithmetically.

to write in or as in cipher.

verb (used with object)

to calculate numerically; figure.

to convert into cipher.

Also especially British, cy·pher.

Origin of cipher

1350–1400; Middle English siphre < Medieval Latin ciphra < Arabic ṣifr empty, zero; translation of Sanskrit śūnyā empty

OTHER WORDS FROM cipher

ci·pher·a·ble, adjective ci·pher·er, noun

Words nearby cipher

cio, cion, cioppino, cip, cipango, cipher, ciphertext, ciphony, cipolin, cippus, cipro

Example sentences from the Web for ciphering

He often moved about the cabin with a piece of chalk, writing and ciphering on boards and the flat sides of hewn logs.

Abraham Lincoln, Volume 1 (of 2) |William H. Herndon
But Tom was thinking and ciphering away so busy and excited he never heard him.

Tom Sawyer Abroad |Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
But now this accomplished young man does it all by ciphering and mensuration.

The Mayor of Casterbridge |Thomas Hardy
“He must be respectable—he keeps a man-servant,” said Miss Tomkins to the writing and ciphering governess.

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 1(of 2) |Charles Dickens

He was a celebrity in ciphering, and Squire Seymour declared that he was the greatest "arithmeticker" in Fairfield county.

Peter Parley's Own Story |Samuel G. Goodrich

British Dictionary definitions for ciphering

cipher

cypher

/ (ˈsaɪfə) /

noun

a method of secret writing using substitution or transposition of letters according to a key

a secret message

the key to a secret message

an obsolete name for zero (def. 1)

any of the Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, etc, to 9) or the Arabic system of numbering as a whole

a person or thing of no importance; nonentity

a design consisting of interwoven letters; monogram

music a defect in an organ resulting in the continuous sounding of a pipe, the key of which has not been depressed

verb

to put (a message) into secret writing

(intr) (of an organ pipe) to sound without having the appropriate key depressed

rare to perform (a calculation) arithmetically

Word Origin for cipher

C14: from Old French cifre zero, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic sifr zero, empty

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

cipher

noun

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

Origin of cipher

OTHER WORDS FROM cipher

Words nearby cipher

Example sentences from the Web for ciphering

British Dictionary definitions for ciphering

cypher

noun

verb

Word Origin for cipher

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

cipher

noun

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

Origin of cipher

OTHER WORDS FROM cipher

Words nearby cipher

Words related to ciphering

Example sentences from the Web for ciphering

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for ciphering

cypher

noun

verb

Word Origin for cipher

British Dictionary definitions for ciphering