cypher
1
8.9
- noun
- /ˈsaɪfər/
- UK
:
cifra
- He spent hours trying to break the mysterious cypher used by the secret society.
War hadn't yet broken out, but fortunately the French, I think, passed it on under conditions of great secrecy to the Polish cypher Bureau.
- War hadn't yet broken out, but fortunately the French, I think, passed it on under conditions of great secrecy to the Polish cypher Bureau.
Examples
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Completely impossible to crack the code unless you have the original cypher.
-
To understand the ancient manuscript, you need to decode the cypher it contains.
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Each page is a new cypher.
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I got the cypher.
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She's got the cypher.
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The detective found a hidden message written in a cypher that led them to the treasure.
Synonyms
3
5.2
A set of words, letters or signs used to hide a message
3
9.5
A piece of writing in a code that you can solve
2
8.9
A message written in a secret code
1
8.2
A way of writing that uses codes so only certain people can read it
A written message in code that keeps its meaning secret
How Secret
Surface Forms
Etymology
Cypher comes from the old Arabic word sifr, meaning 'empty' or 'zero', which came into Europe as a word for a number or symbol. Because those marks could hide meaning, cypher came to mean a 'secret code', and you can see the same idea in the word decipher.