# cipher

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsaɪfə/ · frequency rank #24,701

## Definitions
1. A numeric character.
2. Any text character.
3. A combination or interweaving of letters, as the initials of a name.
4. A method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning.
5. A cryptographic system using an algorithm that converts letters or sequences of bits into ciphertext.
6. Ciphertext; a message concealed via a cipher.
7. A grouping of three digits in a number, especially when delimited by commas or periods
8. A fault in an organ valve which causes a pipe to sound continuously without the key having been pressed.
9. A hip-hop jam session.
10. The path (usually circular) shared cannabis takes through a group, an occasion of cannabis smoking.
11. Someone or something of no importance.
12. Zero.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **copper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cipher-vs-copper)
- **cypher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cipher-vs-cypher)
- **copier** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cipher-vs-copier)
- **clipper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cipher-vs-clipper)
- **Cher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cher-vs-cipher)
- **cider** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cider-vs-cipher)
- **caper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caper-vs-cipher)
- **cinder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cinder-vs-cipher)
- **chipper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chipper-vs-cipher)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ccipher`, `cihper`, `cipehr`, `cipherr`, `ciphher`, `ciphre`, `cippher`, `cpiher`, `icpher`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cipher