decipher

English

Alternative forms

decypher

Etymology

As decypher, but not retaining the y from the Old French etyma of cipher (cyfre, cyffre); the i spelling tends to be preferred etymologically, being consistent with its cognates, the French déchiffrer and the Italian decifrare, and with their common ancestor, the Medieval Latin cifra, cifera, ciphra.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈsaɪfə(ɹ)/
Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -aɪfə(ɹ)

Verb

decipher (third-person singular simple present deciphers, present participle deciphering, simple past and past participle deciphered)

(transitive) To decode or decrypt a code or cipher to plain text.
(transitive) To read text that is almost illegible or obscure
(transitive) To make sense of a complex situation.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, page 13:
  Truly, we need human infirmity to teach us human nature, and that to Louis had been as a sealed book; he had only seen the coloured and gilded outside: too late he had to decipher the rough and gloomy page within.
(transitive) To find a solution to a problem.

Derived terms

decipherability
decipherable
decipherment
indecipherability
indecipherable
undecipherable

Related terms

decrypt

Translations

to decode or decrypt a code or cipher

Bulgarian: дешифрирам (bg) (dešifriram)
Catalan: desxifrar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 解碼／解码 (zh) (jiěmǎ), 解讀／解读 (zh) (jiědú)
Czech: rozluštit
Dutch: ontcijferen (nl)
Esperanto: malĉifri
Finnish: purkaa (fi), murtaa (fi), avata (viesti)
French: déchiffrer (fr)
German: dechiffrieren (de), entschlüsseln (de)
Greek: αποκρυπτογραφώ (el) (apokryptografó)
Icelandic: dulráða
Japanese: 解読する (ja) (かいどくする, kaidoku suru)
Kazakh: дешифрлеу (deşifrleu)
Korean: 해독(解讀)하다 (haedokhada)
Luxembourgish: dechiffréieren
Polish: rozszyfrowywać impf, rozszyfrować (pl) pf
Portuguese: decifrar (pt)
Russian: расшифро́вывать (ru) impf (rasšifróvyvatʹ), расшифрова́ть (ru) pf (rasšifrovátʹ)
Spanish: descifrar (es), decodificar (es)
Swedish: dechiffrera (sv), avkoda (sv), dekryptera, läsa (sv), tyda (sv)
Turkish: deşifre etmek (tr)
Ukrainian: розшифро́вувати impf (rozšyfróvuvaty), розшифрува́ти pf (rozšyfruváty)

to read illegible or obscure text

Bulgarian: разчитам (bg) (razčitam)
Catalan: desxifrar (ca)
Finnish: tavata (fi)
German: entziffern (de)
Greek: αποκρυπτογραφώ (el) (apokryptografó)
Polish: rozszyfrowywać impf, rozszyfrować (pl) pf
Spanish: descifrar (es), interpretar (es)
Swedish: läsa (sv), tyda (sv), dechiffrera (sv)

to find a solution

Finnish: ratkaista (fi)
German: entschlüsseln (de)
Portuguese: decifrar (pt), resolver (pt)
Spanish: resolver (es), descifrar (es)

Noun

decipher (plural deciphers)

A decipherment; a decoding.
- 1837, Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington, John Gurwood, The Dispatches of Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington, K.G.
  I enclose a letter which I received yesterday evening from the Marques de Monsalud, containing the decipher of a letter from the King to the Comte d'Erlon. I wish that the Marques had sent the ciphered letter here […]

Anagrams

ciphered