Ciphertext

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈsaɪfəˌtɛkst/

Definitions

1. A structured format of information converted through encryption to hinder understanding by unauthorized parties
2. An encoded form of data that is transformed through cryptographic processes to prevent unauthorized interpretation by observers
3. A secure representation of information that has been altered through encryption techniques to ensure that only authorized users can decipher it

Etymology: Ciphertext is a compound of two older words, "cipher" and "text," and the first part carries a history of its own. "Cipher" traces back through Old French and medieval Latin to Arabic "ṣifr," meaning "empty" or "zero," the same root that gave English "zero." The Arabic term passed into European mathematics as the name for the numeral zero, and from there it came to mean any secret method of writing, since a coded message replaces letters with symbols much as zero stands in for nothing. "Text" entered English through Old French from Latin "textus," a "weaving" or "tissue," from the verb "texere," to weave. The idea of writing as woven fabric is still visible in the word, and a text is literally something put together thread by thread. Joined together, the two parts describe a message that has been woven into an unreadable form, something that looks like a jumble until the right key unravels it.

Synonyms: encoded text, encrypted text

Antonyms: plaintext