Meanings
present singular third person deciphers · participle present deciphering · participle past deciphered · past deciphered · alternative decypher
- transitiveTo make sense of a complex situation.
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.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 13
plural deciphers · alternative decypher
- A decipherment; a decoding.
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 […]
1837, Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington, John Gurwood, The Dispatches of Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington, K.G.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo convert a code or cipher to plain text.
verbTo find a solution to a problem.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
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. By surface analysis, de- + cipher.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic فَكَّ تَّعْمِيَة, فَكَّ مُعَمَّى
- فَكَّ تَّعْمِيَة (fakka taʕmiya)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- فَكَّ مُعَمَّى (fakka muʕammā)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- فَكَّ شِّيفْرَة (fakka šīfra)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Bulgarian дешифрирам, разчитам
- дешифрирам (dešifriram)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- разчитам (razčitam)to read illegible or obscure text
Catalan desxifrar, desxifrar
- desxifrarto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- desxifrarto read illegible or obscure text
Chinese Mandarin 解碼 /解码, 解讀 /解读
- 解碼 /解码 (jiěmǎ)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- 解讀 /解读 (jiědú)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Czech rozluštit
- rozluštitto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Danish dechifrere, afkode
- dechifrereto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- afkodeto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Dutch ontcijferen
- ontcijferento decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Esperanto malĉifri
- malĉifrito decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Finnish purkaa, murtaa
- purkaato decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- murtaato decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- avata (viesti)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- tavatato read illegible or obscure text
- ratkaistato find a solution
French déchiffrer
- déchiffrerto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
German dechiffrieren, entschlüsseln
- dechiffrierento decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- entschlüsselnto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- entziffernto read illegible or obscure text
- entschlüsselnto find a solution
Greek αποκρυπτογραφώ, αποκρυπτογραφώ
- αποκρυπτογραφώ (apokryptografó)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- αποκρυπτογραφώ (apokryptografó)to read illegible or obscure text
Hebrew פענח
- פענח (pi'néakh)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Icelandic dulráða
- dulráðato decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Japanese 解読する
- 解読する (kaidoku suru)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Korean 해독(解讀)하다
- 해독(解讀)하다 (haedokhada)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Polish rozszyfrowywać, rozszyfrować
- rozszyfrowywaćto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- rozszyfrowaćto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- rozszyfrowywaćto read illegible or obscure text
- rozszyfrowaćto read illegible or obscure text
Portuguese decifrar, decifrar
- decifrarto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- decifrarto find a solution
- resolverto find a solution
Russian расшифро́вывать, расшифрова́ть
- расшифро́вывать (rasšifróvyvatʹ)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- расшифрова́ть (rasšifrovátʹ)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- разбиратьto read illegible or obscure text
Spanish descifrar, decodificar
- descifrarto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- decodificarto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- descifrarto read illegible or obscure text
- interpretarto read illegible or obscure text
- resolverto find a solution
- descifrarto find a solution
Swedish dechiffrera, avkoda
- dechiffrerato decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- avkodato decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- dekrypterato decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- läsato decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- tydato decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- läsato read illegible or obscure text
- tydato read illegible or obscure text
- dechiffrerato read illegible or obscure text
Turkish deşifre etmek
- deşifre etmekto decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Ukrainian розшифро́вувати, розшифрува́ти
- розшифро́вувати (rozšyfróvuvaty)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- розшифрува́ти (rozšyfruváty)to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with decipher
All rhymes →Cite this entry
decipher. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decipher
“decipher.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decipher. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “decipher,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decipher.
Source: decipher on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.