Cipher

sī′fėr, n. ( arith. ) the character 0: any of the nine figures: anything of little value, whether persons or things: a nonentity: an interweaving of the initials of a name: a secret kind of writing.— v.i. to work at arithmetic: to write in cipher: of an organ-pipe, to sound independent of the organ: ( Shak. ) to decipher.— ns. Cī′phering ; Cī′pher-key , a key to a cipher or piece of secret writing. [O. Fr. cifre , Fr. chiffre —Ar. sifr , empty.]