Polybius square
Polybius square noun: a character code represented by two sets of six lit torches, used to send messages character by character, in a two point visual fire telegraph. The character code is generated by encoding characters in a grid, where each character generates two numbers, uniquely representing each character as a pair of numbers.
Noun
Polybius square (plural Polybius squares)
- A character code represented by two sets of six lit torches, used to send messages character by character, in a two point visual fire telegraph. The character code is generated by encoding characters in a grid, where each character generates two numbers, uniquely representing each character as a pair of numbers.
- A grid used for fractionating plaintext characters so that they can be represented by a smaller set of symbols.
Forms of Polybius square
| plural | Polybius squares |
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Origin of Polybius square
From Polybius + square (“grid”). It was invented by the Ancient Greek historian and scholar Polybius.
Questions about Polybius square
- What does Polybius square mean?
- Polybius square means a character code represented by two sets of six lit torches, used to send messages character by character, in a two point visual fire telegraph. The character code is generated by encoding characters in a grid, where each character generates two numbers, uniquely representing each character as a pair of numbers.
- What part of speech is Polybius square?
- Polybius square is a noun.
- What is the plural of Polybius square?
- The plural of Polybius square is Polybius squares.
Words near Polybius square in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Polybius square (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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Cite this entry: “Polybius square.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/polybius_square. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.