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   cipher

   /ˈsʌɪfə/

   noun

   • 1. a secret or disguised way of writing; a code: "he wrote cryptic notes in a cipher" Similar codesecret writingcoded messagecryptographcryptogram
   • ▪ something written in a code: "he came across ciphers written on parchment and concealed in a hollow altar pillar" Similar codesecret writingcoded messagecryptographcryptogram
   • ▪ a key to a code.
   • 2. a zero; a figure 0. dated Similar zeronoughtnil0archaic:naught
   • ▪ a person of no importance, especially one who does the bidding of others and seems to have no will of their own: "journalists are not mere interchangeable ciphers in the propaganda battle" Similar nobodynonentitynothingnon-personunimportant personperson of no accountOpposite celebrity
   • 3. a monogram: "a pair of rock crystal goblets engraved with the cipher of Peter the Great" Similar numeralnumberintegerfiguredigitcharactersymbolsign

   verb

   • 1. put (a message) into secret writing; encode: "he left two, as yet uncracked, ciphered messages for posthumous decoding"
   • 2. do arithmetic. archaic

   Word Origin late Middle English (in the senses ‘symbol for zero’ and ‘Arabic numeral’): from Old French cifre, based on Arabic ṣifr ‘zero’.

   Scrabble Points: 13

   • C

     3

   • I

     1

   • P

     3

   • H

     4

   • E

     1

   • R

     1

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