cryptography

cryptography

English

Etymology

crypto- +‎ -graphy

Pronunciation

• enPR: krĭptŏgʹrəfē, IPA^(key): [kɹ̥ɪpˈtʰɒɡɹəfiː], /kɹɪpˈtɒɡ.ɹə.fi/
• Rhymes: -ɒɡɹəfi

Noun

cryptography (usually uncountable, plural cryptographies)

1. The discipline concerned with communication security (eg, confidentiality of messages, integrity of messages, sender authentication, non-repudiation of messages, and many other related issues), regardless of the used medium such as pencil and paper or computers.
   • 1658, Sir Thomas Browne (first use in English):

     We might abate...the strange cryptography of Gaffarell in his Starrie Booke of Heaven.

Usage notes

• Subfields include encoding, decoding, cryptanalysis, codes, ciphers, etc.
• In many languages, though less so in English, cognates to "cryptology" are also used with the meaning given above, and even preferred.
• Related to cryptography but distinct, steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no-one apart from the sender and intended recipient even realizes there is a hidden message.

Derived terms

• anticryptography
• asymmetric cryptography
• elliptic-curve cryptography
• public-key cryptography

Related terms

• crypt
• cryptanalysis
• cryptographer
• cryptology

 

Translations

discipline concerned with communication security

Asturian: criptografía f Belarusian: крыптагра́фія f (kryptahráfija) Bulgarian: криптография f (kriptografija) Catalan: criptografia (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 密碼學／密码学 (zh) (mìmǎxué) Czech: kryptografie (cs) f Danish: kryptografi Dutch: cryptografie (nl) n, geheimschrift (nl) f Esperanto: kriptografio Finnish: kryptografia (fi), salakirjoitustaito French: cryptographie (fr) f Galician: criptografía (gl) f Georgian: კრიპტოგრაფია (ḳriṗṭograpia) German: Kryptographie (de) f Greek: κρυπτογραφία (el) f (kryptografía) Hindi: गूढ़लेखन m (gūṛhlekhan) Hungarian: kriptográfia (hu) Icelandic: dulritunarfræði f Irish: cripteagrafaíocht f Italian: crittografia (it) f Japanese: 暗号論 (angōron) Latvian: kriptogrāfija f Macedonian: криптографија f (kriptografija) Persian: رمزنگاری‎ (fa) (ramz-negâri) Polish: kryptografia (pl) f Portuguese: criptografia (pt) f Russian: криптогра́фия (ru) f (kriptográfija) Spanish: criptografía (es) f Swedish: kryptografi (sv) c Ukrainian: криптогра́фія (uk) f (kryptohráfija) Yiddish: קריפּטאָגראַפֿיע‎ f (kriptografye)

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of cryptography