1a secret or disguised way of writing; a code:he wrote cryptic notes in a cipher [mass noun]:the information may be given in cipher
something written in a code:he came across ciphers written on parchment and concealed in a hollow altar pillar
a key to a code.
2 dated a zero; a figure 0.
a person of no importance, especially one who does the bidding of others and seems to have no will of their own:journalists are not mere interchangeable ciphers in the propaganda battle
3a monogram:a pair of rock crystal goblets engraved with the cipher of Peter the Great
ზმნა
Universal
1 [with object] put (a message) into secret writing; encode:he left two, as yet uncracked, ciphered messages for posthumous decoding
