noun
Meaning 1
A numeric character.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: number, numeral, digit
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
cipher
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsaɪfə/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Canada, US: sī′-fər
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Canada, US: /ˈsaɪfɚ/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -aɪfə(ɹ)
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CMU ARPABET: S AY1 F ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Any text character.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A combination or interweaving of letters, as the initials of a name.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- a painter's cipher
- an engraver's cipher
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: device, monogram
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- The message was written in a simple cipher. Anyone could figure it out.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: code
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A cryptographic system using an algorithm that converts letters or sequences of bits into ciphertext.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: computing, cryptography, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences
Examples
- a public-key cipher
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
Ciphertext; a message concealed via a cipher.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- The message is clearly a cipher, but I can't figure it out.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
A grouping of three digits in a number, especially when delimited by commas or periods
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- The probability is 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000 — a number having five ciphers of zeros.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
A fault in an organ valve which causes a pipe to sound continuously without the key having been pressed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
A hip-hop jam session.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
The path (usually circular) shared cannabis takes through a group, an occasion of cannabis smoking.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: rotation
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
Someone or something of no importance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: nobody, nonentity, nothing, absolute zero, also-ran, chopped liver, cipher, crumb, Joe Nobody, little guy, minnow, nebbish, no one, nothingburger, picayune, pip-squeak, pleb, peon, prole, puny, quidam, rinky-dink, shrimp, wankstain, zero, zilch
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 12
Zero.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 13
To calculate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated, intransitive, regional
Examples
- I never learned much more than how to read and cipher.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 14
To write in code or cipher.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 15
Of an organ pipe: to sound independent of the organ.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 16
To decipher.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 17
a message written in a secret code
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cypher
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: message
noun
Meaning 18
a secret method of writing
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cypher, cryptograph, secret code
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: code
noun
Meaning 19
a person of no influence
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cypher, nobody, nonentity
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: commoner, common man, common person
Narrower terms: pip-squeak, squirt, small fry, whippersnapper, jackanapes, lightweight
noun
Meaning 20
a quantity of no importance
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- it looked like nothing I had ever seen before
- reduced to nil all the work we had done
- we racked up a pathetic goose egg
- it was all for naught
- I didn't hear zilch about it
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: nothing, nil, nix, nada, null, aught, cypher, goose egg, naught, zero, zilch, zip, zippo
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: relative quantity
Narrower terms: nihil, bugger all, fuck all, Fanny Adams, sweet Fanny Adams
noun
Meaning 21
a mathematical element that when added to another number yields the same number
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: zero, 0, nought, cypher
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: digit, figure
verb
Meaning 22
make a mathematical calculation or computation
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: calculate, cypher, compute, work out, reckon, figure
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: reason
Narrower terms: quantize, quantise, extract, process, prorate, miscalculate, misestimate, recalculate, average, average out, factor, factor in, factor out, add, add together, subtract, deduct, take off, multiply, divide, fraction, interpolate, extrapolate, differentiate, integrate, survey, estimate, gauge, approximate, guess, judge, budget, capitalize, capitalise, resolve, solve
verb
Meaning 23
convert ordinary language into code
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- We should encode the message for security reasons
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: code, encipher, cypher, encrypt, inscribe, write in code
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: encode
History
Etymology
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.
Across languages
Translations
82 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: شِيفْرَة (šīfra) — numeric character
- Bulgarian: цифра (cifra) — numeric character
- Catalan: xifra — numeric character
- Czech: číslice — numeric character
- Czech: cifra — numeric character
- Danish: ciffer — numeric character
- Dutch: cijfer — numeric character
- Finnish: numero — numeric character
- Finnish: luku — numeric character
- French: chiffre — numeric character
- Georgian: ციფრი (cipri) — numeric character
- German: Ziffer — numeric character
- Greek: μηδέν (midén) — numeric character
- Greek: μηδενικό (midenikó) — numeric character
- Hungarian: nulla — numeric character
- Hungarian: zéró — numeric character
- Italian: cifra — numeric character
- Japanese: 数字 — numeric character
- Japanese: sūji (sūji) — numeric character
- Polish: cyfra — numeric character
- Portuguese: algarismo — numeric character
- Portuguese: cifra — numeric character
- Russian: ци́фра (cífra) — numeric character
- Spanish: cifra — numeric character
- Swedish: siffra — numeric character
- Finnish: merkki — any text character
- Finnish: monogrammi — combination or interweaving of letters
- Russian: ве́нзель (vénzelʹ) — combination or interweaving of letters
- Ottoman Turkish: علامت (ʼalamet) — combination or interweaving of letters
- Ottoman Turkish: نشان (nişan) — combination or interweaving of letters
- Bulgarian: шифриране (šifrirane) — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Catalan: xifra — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Czech: šifra — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Czech: šifrování — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Finnish: salakirjoitus — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Georgian: შიფრი (šipri) — method for concealing the meaning of text
- German: Verschlüsselung — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Greek: κρυπτογράφηση (kryptográfisi) — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Hungarian: rejtjel — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Hungarian: titkosírás — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Kazakh: шифр (şifr) — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Polish: szyfr — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Portuguese: cifra — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Russian: шифр (šifr) — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Spanish: cifra — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Swedish: chiffer — method for concealing the meaning of text
- Bulgarian: шифър (šifǎr) — cryptographic system
- Catalan: xifra — cryptographic system
- Czech: šifra — cryptographic system
- Czech: šifrovací klíč — cryptographic system
- Finnish: salain — cryptographic system
- Finnish: salaaja — cryptographic system
- Finnish: salakirjoitusjärjestelmä — cryptographic system
- Georgian: შიფრი (šipri) — cryptographic system
- German: Verschlüsselungssystem — cryptographic system
- Icelandic: dulritunaraðferð — cryptographic system
- Japanese: 暗号 (angō) — cryptographic system
- Kazakh: шифр (şifr) — cryptographic system
- Polish: szyfr — cryptographic system
- Portuguese: cifra — cryptographic system
- Russian: шифр (šifr) — cryptographic system
- Swedish: chiffer — cryptographic system
- Catalan: xifra — concealed message
- Czech: šifra — concealed message
- Finnish: salakirjoitusviesti — concealed message
- Georgian: დაშიფრული ტექსტი (dašipruli ṭeksṭi) — concealed message
- German: Chiffre f Geheimschrift — concealed message
- Greek: κρυπτογράφημα (kryptográfima) — concealed message
- Icelandic: dulritaður texti — concealed message
- Icelandic: dulrit — concealed message
- Russian: шифро́вка (šifróvka) — concealed message
- Swedish: chiffer — concealed message
- Turkish: şifre — concealed message
- Finnish: kolmen numeron ryhmä — grouping of three digits in a number, especially when delimited
- French: tranche — grouping of three digits in a number, especially when delimited
- Spanish: la glosa — hip-hop jam session
- Spanish: gloss — hip-hop jam session
- Spanish: gloss — hip-hop jam session
- Czech: nula — someone or something of no importance
- Czech: nicka — someone or something of no importance
- Finnish: numero — someone or something of no importance
- Swedish: nolla — someone or something of no importance
Real reading context