Ciphering
/ˈsaɪfərɪŋ/noun
The act of writing, calculating, or encoding with a cipher.
Did you know?Cipher ultimately comes from Arabic *ṣifr*, meaning “empty” or “zero,” a word that traveled through medieval mathematics into English as both a number and a symbol of concealment.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
PS
“A root meaning “empty” or “nothing” is traditionally reconstructed behind the Arabic form.”
Arabic
Arabic
ṣifr
“Empty; zero; a blank number.”
Medieval Latin
Latin
cifra
“Zero; an Arabic numeral.”
Old French
Old French
cifre
“Zero; numeral; secret writing.”
Middle English
English
cifren
“To calculate; to write in cipher.”
Modern English
English
ciphering
“Writing or encoding in secret code; calculating with numerals.”