cipher
noun
[ ˈsʌɪfə ]
• a secret or disguised way of writing; a code.
• "he wrote cryptic notes in a cipher"
• a zero; a figure 0.
• a monogram.
• "a pair of rock crystal goblets engraved with the cipher of Peter the Great"
cipher
verb
• put (a message) into secret writing; encode.
• "he left two, as yet uncracked, ciphered messages for posthumous decoding"
• do arithmetic.
Origin:
late Middle English (in the senses ‘symbol for zero’ and ‘Arabic numeral’): from Old French cifre, based on Arabic ṣifr ‘zero’.
cipher
noun
• a continuous sounding of an organ pipe, caused by a mechanical defect.
cipher
verb
• (of an organ pipe) sound continuously.
Origin:
late 18th century: perhaps from cipher1.
