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cipher definition

ci·pher (fər)

noun

  1. the symbol 0, indicating a value of zero
  2. a person or thing of no importance or value
    1. a system of secret writing based on a key, or set of predetermined rules or symbols
    2. a message in such writing
    3. the key to such a system
  3. an intricate weaving together of letters, as a monogram
  4. an Arabic numeral

Etymology: ME cifre < OFr cyfre < ML cifra < Ar ṣifr, ṣefr, a cipher, nothing < ṣafara, to be empty

intransitive verb, transitive verb

  1. to solve (an arithmetic problem)
  2. to write in or with a cipher ()

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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