cipher

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsaɪfɚ/; /ˈsaɪfə/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English siphre or cifre,^[2][3][4] from Old French cifre (“zero”),^[2][3][5] from Medieval Latin cifra,^{[2][3][5][6][4]} from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “empty, zero”),^{[2][3][5][6][4]} from ṣafira “to be empty”.^[2][5] The Arabic word is a loan translation of Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “empty”).^[2][3][5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The arithmetical symbol 0 (1399).^[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word came to Europe with Arabic numerals.^[5] From “zero” it was extended to any numeral (1530),^[7][3][5] and then to secret writing (1528),^[7][3][5] because early codes often replaced letters with numbers.^[5] The figurative sense of a person or thing of no value dates from the 1570s.^[5][7] The verb meant “to do arithmetic” from 1530^[7][3][5] and “to write in code” from the 1560s.^[5][7]

Timeline

• 1399 – the symbol for zero.^[7][3]
• 1528 – secret writing.^[7][3][5]
• 1530 – any numeral; verb, to do arithmetic.^[7][3]
• 1563–87 – verb, to write in cipher.^[7][5]
• 1579 – a person of no importance.^[7][5]
• 1885 – the key to a cipher.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The symbol 0; zero.
2. A person or thing of no influence or value; a nonentity.
3. A method of secret writing that replaces or rearranges letters; a code.
4. A message written in such a system, or the key to it.
5. An Arabic numeral.
6. A design of interwoven letters, such as initials; a monogram.

Verb

1. To do arithmetic; to calculate.
2. To write in code; to encipher.

Word family

• cipherable
• cipherer
• ciphertext
• decipher
• encipher
• substitution cipher
• transposition cipher

Related words

• zero

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press