cryptography

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

crypto- + -graphy

Pronunciation

• enPR: krĭptŏgʹrəfē, IPA: [kɹ̥ɪpˈtʰɒɡɹəfiː], /kɹɪpˈtɒɡ.ɹə.fi/, X-SAMPA: [kr\_0Ip"t_hQgr\@fi:], /kr\Ip.tQg.r\@.fi/
• Rhymes: -ɒɡrəfiː

Noun

cryptography (usually uncountable; plural cryptographies)

1. The discipline concerned with communication security (eg, confidentiality of messages, integrity of messages, sender authentication, non-repudiation of messages, and many other related issues), regardless of the used medium such as pencil and paper or computers.
   • 1658:, Sir Thomas Browne (first use in English),

     We might abate...the strange cryptography of Gaffarell in his Starrie Booke of Heaven.

Usage notes

• Subfields include encoding, decoding, cryptanalysis, codes, ciphers, etc.
• In many languages, though less so in English, cognates to "cryptology" are also used with the meaning given above, and even preferred.
• Related to cryptography but distinct, steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no-one apart from the sender and intended recipient even realizes there is a hidden message.

Derived terms

• anticryptography
• asymmetric cryptography
• public-key cryptography

Related terms

• crypt
• cryptology
• cryptanalysis

Translations

discipline concerned with communication security

• Bulgarian: криптография f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 密碼學 (cmn)

• Czech: kryptografie (cs) f
• Danish: kryptografi (da)
• Dutch: cryptografie n, geheimschrift f
• Esperanto: kriptografio (eo)
• Finnish: kryptografia, salaustekniikka
• French: cryptographie (fr) f
• German: Kryptographie (de) f
• Greek: κρυπτογραφία (el) (kryptografía) f
• Hindi: गूढ़लेखन (hi) (gudalekhan) m

• Hungarian: kriptográfia (hu)
• Icelandic: dulritunarfræði (is) f
• Irish: cripteagrafaíocht (ga) f
• Italian: crittografia (it) f
• Japanese: 暗号論 (angōron)
• Persian: رمزنگاری (fa) (ramz-negâri)
• Polish: kryptografia (pl) f
• Portuguese: criptografia (pt) f
• Russian: криптография (ru) (kriptográfija) f
• Spanish: criptografía (es) f

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of cryptography