Public Key Cryptography Definition

noun

Any of various techniques that use two different keys whereby data encrypted with one key can only be decrypted using the other. In typical use, the recipient makes one key public and keeps the other private, so that anyone may encrypt data for the recipient, but only the recipient can decrypt it.

American Heritage

The subfield of cryptography in which all information used to encode a message is assumed to be publicly available.

Wiktionary

A form of cryptography which allows users to communicate securely without previously agreeing on a shared secret key (abbreviation PKC)

Wiktionary