decipher
/dɪˈsaɪfə(ɹ)/
decipher verb: to convert a code or cipher to plain text.
Verb
decipher (third-person singular simple present deciphers, present participle deciphering, simple past and past participle deciphered)
- To convert a code or cipher to plain text.
- To read text that is almost illegible or obscure.
- To 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
- To find a solution to a problem.
- Synonyms:
- resolve, unriddle, work out, absolve, get to the bottom of, iron out, meliorate, puzzle out, ravel, reason out
Noun
decipher (plural deciphers)
- 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.
decipher meaning in Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Arabic
decipher in Urdu
- to decipher; understand
- پڑھنا paṛhnā
decipher in Bengali
- পাঠোদ্ধার করা, অর্থ বোঝা
decipher in Malayalam
- ഗൂഢാർത്ഥം വ്യാഖ്യാനിക്കുക
decipher in Arabic
- to decode or decrypt a code or cipher
- فَكَّ تَّعْمِيَة fakka taʕmiya, فَكَّ مُعَمَّى fakka muʕammā, فَكَّ شِّيفْرَة fakka šīfra
Examples of decipher in a sentence
- I hate it when people type haxor, takes hours to decipher.
- The manuscript contained arcane symbols no one could decipher.
- His skill in deciphering the texts deepened with practice.
Synonyms of decipher
12 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of decipher
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | deciphers |
| present participle | deciphering |
| past participle | deciphered |
| past | deciphered |
| alternative form | decypher |
| Noun | |
| plural | deciphers |
Origin of decipher
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.
Words formed from decipher
Words that rhyme with decipher
Questions about decipher
- What does decipher mean?
- Decipher means to convert a code or cipher to plain text.
- What is decipher in Urdu?
- Decipher in Urdu is پڑھنا (paṛhnā). See Decipher meaning in Urdu.
- What part of speech is decipher?
- Decipher can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce decipher?
- Decipher is pronounced /dɪˈsaɪfə(ɹ)/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of decipher?
- The past tense of decipher is deciphered.
Words near decipher in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: decipher (page history and authors); پڑھنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); Decipher (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); decipher (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-decipher.wav.
Cite this entry: “decipher.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/decipher. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.