Etymologically
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cipher

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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
  • 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