Cipher
CIPHER, or Cypher (from Arab, şifr, void), the symbol 0, nought, or zero; and so a name for symbolic or secret writing (see Cryptography), or even for shorthand (q.v.), and also in elementary education for doing simple sums ("ciphering").
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
