From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcipherci‧pher, cypher /ˈsaɪfə $ -ər/ noun 1 [countable, uncountable] formalSECRET a system of secret writing SYN code an expert in ciphers messages written in cipher2 UNIMPORTANT[countable] someone who is not important and has no power or influence At work, she was a cipher, a functionary, nothing more.3 HM[countable] literary the number 0 SYN zero
Examples from the Corpus
cipher• No one is a cipher, and Maloney tries to give his subjects a character, a singular demeanour and poise.• When I felt outrage was I simply a cipher for cultural prejudice?• He was a cipher to me, a silent man of abstracted benevolence, and I never got to know him well.• The embassy was ordered to destroy its cipher equipment and remaining codes.• The women are strong characters, but the men in this movie are mere ciphers.• The first would be to protect Britain's own secrets by developing the necessary cipher machines, codes and operating procedures.• One bears the Romanov double-headed eagle, another the cipher of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth.• A pair of rock crystal goblets engraved with the cipher of Peter the Great.Origin cipher (1300-1400) Old French cifre, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic sifr “empty, zero” 