I. ci ‧ pher BrE AmE , cypher /ˈsaɪfə $ -ər/ noun
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: cifre , from Medieval Latin cifra , from Arabic sifr 'empty, zero' ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] formal a system of secret writing SYN code :
an expert in ciphers
messages written in cipher
2 . [countable] someone who is not important and has no power or influence:
At work, she was a cipher, a functionary, nothing more.
3 . [countable] literary the number 0 SYN zero
II. cy ‧ pher /ˈsaɪfə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable, uncountable]
another spelling of ↑ cipher