Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

decipher

Did you mean: decipher, Decipher (novel), Decipher (album), Decipher (2003 Album by After Forever)

 
Dictionary: de·ci·pher   (dĭ-sī'fər) pronunciation
 
tr.v., -phered, -pher·ing, -phers.
  1. To read or interpret (ambiguous, obscure, or illegible matter). See synonyms at solve.
  2. To convert from a code or cipher to plain text; decode.
decipherable de·ci'pher·a·ble adj.
decipherer de·ci'pher·er n.
decipherment de·ci'pher·ment n.
Search unanswered questions...
Enter a word or phrase...
All Community Q&A Reference topics
 

Same as decrypt.

Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your iPhone/iTouch

 
Thesaurus: decipher
Top

verb

  1. To make understandable: construe, explain, explicate, expound, interpret, spell out. Archaic enucleate. Idioms: put into plain English. See explain/baffle.
  2. To find a solution for: clear up, explain, resolve, solve, unravel. Informal dope out, figure out. Idioms: get to the bottom of. See ask/answer, reason/unreason.
  3. To find the key to (a code, for example): break, crack, decrypt, puzzle out. See knowledge/ignorance.

 
Antonyms: decipher
Top

v

Definition: figure out, understand
Antonyms: code, encode, scramble


 
Word Tutor: decipher
Top
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: To figure out the true words or meaning of something that is unclear.

pronunciation The archaeologist was eager to decipher the meaning behind the ancient cave drawings.

 
Wikipedia: Decipherment
Top

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:

See also

External links


 
Misspellings: decipher
Top

Common misspelling(s) of decipher

  • decypher

 
Translations: Decipher
Top

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

Italiano (Italian)
decifrare

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


 
 

Did you mean: decipher, Decipher (novel), Decipher (album), Decipher (2003 Album by After Forever)

Learn More
uncypher
garble
cryptanalyze

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. THIS COPYRIGHTED DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY.
All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
© 1981-2009 Computer Language Company Inc.  All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved.
eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Decipherment" Read more
Answers Corporation Misspellings. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more