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cipher

ci·pher/ˈsaɪfɚ/noun, verb

cipher is spelled C-I-P-H-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (ci·pher). It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “cipher vs cypher” about 390 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, cipher means “A numeric character” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cipher is ciphers.

How many letters and syllables are in cipher?

Letters6: C-I-P-H-E-R
Syllables2: ci·pher
In writing1.3 times per million words; the 24,745th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is cipher?

Cipher appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce cipher?

  • UK /ˈsaɪfə/
  • US /ˈsaɪfɚ/

Cipher has 2 syllables, split ci·pher in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cipher.wav, En-us-cipher.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with cipher

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

cipher vs cypher390 G

Also written: cypher.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of cipher

  • ciphers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • cypher UK
  • ciphering participle, present
  • ciphered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cipher mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    datedA numeric character.

  2. 2

    obsoleteAny text character.

  3. 3

    archaicA combination or interweaving of letters, as the initials of a name.

    a painter's cipher

  4. 4

    A method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning.

    The message was written in a simple cipher. Anyone could figure it out.

  5. 5

    A cryptographic system using an algorithm that converts letters or sequences of bits into ciphertext.

    a public-key cipher

  6. 6

    Ciphertext; a message concealed via a cipher.

    The message is clearly a cipher, but I can't figure it out.

  7. 7

    obsoleteA grouping of three digits in a number, especially when delimited by commas or periods.

    The probability is 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000 – a number having five ciphers of zeros.

  8. 8

    A fault in an organ valve which causes a pipe to sound continuously without the key having been pressed.

verb

  1. 1

    datedTo calculate.

    I never learned much more than how to read and cipher.

  2. 2

    To write in code or cipher.

  3. 3

    Of an organ pipe: to sound independent of the organ.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo decipher.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cipher in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchchiffre (numeric character), tranche (grouping of three digits in a number…)
GermanZiffer (numeric character), Verschlüsselung (method for concealing the meaning of text), Verschlüsselungssystem (cryptographic system), Chiffre f Geheimschrift (concealed message)
Portuguesealgarismo, cifra (numeric character)
Spanishcifra (numeric character), la glosa, gloss (hip-hop jam session)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does cipher come from?

14th century. From Middle English cifre, from Old French cyfre, cyffre (French chiffre), ultimately from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “zero, empty”), from صَفَرَ (ṣafara, “to be empty”). Doublet of chiffre and zero. Sense 8 (a fault in an organ valve) may be a different word.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after cipher