encryption

noun

en·​cryp·​tion in-ˈkrip-shən 

en-

plural encryptions

1

: the act or process of encrypting something : a conversion of something (such as data) into a code or cipher

The regulations … make it harder to provide automatic encryption of information as it passes through the dozens of links in a typical Internet connection …

—Paul Wallich

… a hacker slips into a system, then puts encryption controls in place that locks users out.

—Elizabeth Millard

2

: a code or cipher produced by encrypting something

Artificial intelligence can decode encryptions that previously could not be cracked.

—Ana Swanson

Examples of encryption in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Telegram messenger, meanwhile, offers no end-to-end encryption for group messages, making the app among the weakest for ensuring the confidentiality of group messages. —ArsTechnica, 7 May 2025

His recommendations include strong privacy regulations, encryption protocols, and bias mitigation strategies to ensure that AI systems do not perpetuate discrimination. —Jason Phillips, USA Today, 7 May 2025

Ensure that your router firmware is updated and that encryption is set to WPA2 or WPA3. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 6 May 2025

Rather than try to crack advanced encryption protocols, why not find access to the unencrypted end of an end-to-end encrypted communication? —Ronald J. Deibert, Foreign Affairs, 24 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for encryption

• ascription
• conscription
• decryption
• description
• egyptian
• inscription
• prescription
• proscription
• subscription
• transcription
• circumscription
• misdescription