Meaning

12 senses
  1. (dated)A numeric character.

    Ziffer

    ци́фраcífra

  2. A method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning.

    The message was written in a simple cipher. Anyone could figure it out.

    Verschlüsselung

    шифрšifr

  3. A cryptographic system using an algorithm that converts letters or sequences of bits into ciphertext.

    a public-key cipher

    Verschlüsselungssystem

    шифрšifr

  4. Ciphertext; a message concealed via a cipher.

    The message is clearly a cipher, but I can't figure it out.

    Chiffre f Geheimschrift

    шифро́вкаšifróvka

  5. A fault in an organ valve which causes a pipe to sound continuously without the key having been pressed.

  6. (slang)A hip-hop jam session.

  7. (slang)The path (usually circular) shared cannabis takes through a group, an occasion of cannabis smoking.

  8. (dated)Someone or something of no importance.

  9. (dated)Zero.

  10. (obsolete)Any text character.

  11. (archaic)A combination or interweaving of letters, as the initials of a name.

    a painter's cipher

    an engraver's cipher

    ве́нзельvénzelʹ

  12. (obsolete)A grouping of three digits in a number, especially when delimited by commas or periods.

    The probability is 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000 — a number having five ciphers of zeros.

More definitions
  • a message written in a secret code
  • a secret method of writing
  • a person of no influence
  • a mathematical element that when added to another number yields the same number

Examples

5 sentences
  1. My best guess is it needs an asymmetric cipher.

    Моє найкраще припущення - потрібен асиметричний шифр. — ochern

  2. The information may be given in cipher.

  3. Tom was writing cryptic notes in a cipher.

  4. Tom created a new cipher.

    ruТом составил новый шифр. — ZegPhig

  5. The malware was stealing private encryption keys and private encryption certificates used to cipher connections and locally stored data.

Translations

8 languages
Русский
By meaning 4
numeric character:
combination or interweaving of letters:
method for concealing the meaning of text:
concealed message:
Deutsch
By meaning 4
numeric character:
method for concealing the meaning of text:
cryptographic system:
concealed message:

Origin

14th century. From Middle English cifre, from Old French cyfre, cyffre (French chiffre), u

14th century. From Middle English cifre, from Old French cyfre, cyffre (French chiffre), ultimately from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “zero, empty”), from صَفَرَ (ṣafara, “to be empty”). Doublet of chiffre and zero. Sense 8 (a fault in an organ valve) may be a different word.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: ciphers

Synonyms

43 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

20 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
cipher — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto