polyalphabetic

P3O1L1Y4A1L1P3H4A1B3E1T1I1C3

adjective

Describing a substitution cipher in which plaintext letters in different positions are enciphered using different substitution alphabets.

OriginEnglish alphabetic ← Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s) ← Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús →
Scrabble 28
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Meanings

adjectivepolyalphabetic (not comparable)
  1. not comparableDescribing a substitution cipher in which plaintext letters in different positions are enciphered using different substitution alphabets.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*polh₁ús
  3. Ancient Greekπολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)
  4. Englishpoly-
  5. Englishalphabetic
  6. Englishpolyalphabetic

From poly- + alphabetic.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

polyalphabetic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polyalphabetic

MLA

“polyalphabetic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polyalphabetic. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “polyalphabetic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/polyalphabetic.

Source: polyalphabetic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.