- To read or interpret (ambiguous, obscure, or illegible matter). See synonyms at solve.
- To convert from a code or cipher to plain text; decode.
decipherer de·ci'pher·er n.
decipherment de·ci'pher·ment n.
Dictionary:
de·ci·pher (dĭ-sī'fər) ![]() |
| Computer Desktop Encyclopedia: decipher |
| Thesaurus: decipher |
verb
| Word Tutor: decipher |
The archaeologist was eager to decipher the meaning behind the ancient cave drawings.
| Wikipedia: Decipherment |
Decipherment is the analysis of documents written in ancient languages, where the language is unknown, or knowledge of the language has been lost.
It is closely related to cryptanalysis — the difference being that the original document was not deliberately written to be difficult to decipher.
The term has also been used to describe the analysis of the genetic code information encoded in DNA - see the Human Genome Project article for more on this.
Some people have also used the word metaphorically to mean something like 'understanding'.
Examples of successful script decipherment:
Famous documents that have been the subject of decipherments, successful or failed:
Famous decipherers:
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Translations: Decipher |
Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - dechifrere, tyde, afkode
Nederlands (Dutch)
ontcijferen
Français (French)
v. tr. - déchiffrer
Deutsch (German)
v. - dechiffrieren, entziffern
Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - αποκρυπτογραφώ, αποκωδικογραφώ, (μτφ.) βγάζω νόημα από
Português (Portuguese)
v. - decifrar
Русский (Russian)
расшифровать
Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - descifrar
Svenska (Swedish)
v. - dechiffrera
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
译解, 解释
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 譯解, 解釋
한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - (암호 등을) 해독하다, (고서 등을) 판독하다, 판정승
日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 解読する, 判読する
العربيه (Arabic)
(فعل) يحل رموز شيفرة, ينجح بفهم معنى شئ كوثيقه أو كتابه قديمه
עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - פיענח, גילה
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| uncypher | |
| garble | |
| cryptanalyze |
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