What does decipher mean?
Word: Decipher
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Decipher means to work out what something says or means when it is hard to read or understand, such as a code or messy handwriting.
Synonyms: decode, work out, interpret
Antonyms: encode
Word origin: Built on an old word for a secret code, which goes back through medieval Latin to the Arabic sifr, meaning zero.
How do you spell decipher?
Syllables: de - ci - pher
Tricky part: The f sound is written ph, and the s sound is written c. Students often write decifer or desipher.
Watch out for: decifer, desipher, desifer
Memory tip: The f sound hides behind ph, as in phone and graph, and the s sound is a soft c, as in city and cinema.
Decipher in a sentence
Example 1: Grandpa needed his reading glasses to decipher the faded letter.
Example 2: Can you decipher this message written in mirror writing?
Example 3: It took the class a whole period to decipher the old map.
Fun Fact
The Rosetta Stone, which carries the same text in three scripts, helped Jean-Francois Champollion decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Choose the letters that complete the word:
d_ciph_r
a) i, a
b) e, e
c) i, e
d) e, a
Show answer
b) e, e. The prefix is de, meaning undo, and the word closes with er.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. decipher 2. inscripsion 3. manuscrip 4. alphabbet
a) the set of letters used to write a language
b) words carved or written on stone or metal
c) a book or document written by hand
d) to crack a code or a puzzling script
Show answer
d) to crack a code or a puzzling script. Inscripsion has an s where its ending needs a t, manuscrip has lost its last letter and alphabbet has one b too many; decipher is correct.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word decipher as used in the sentence:
It took Mrs Rao ten minutes to decipher the doctor's handwriting on the prescription.
a) make out
b) misread
c) scribble
d) copy
Show answer
a) make out. To make out writing is to manage to read it, which is what she finally did.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
We needed a torch to rhdpeice the carved writing on the old fort wall.
a) chirped
b) decipher
c) deceiver
d) precise
Show answer
b) decipher. Deceiver needs a v, precise an s, and chirped has only one e, so the letters spell decipher.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these would be hardest to decipher?
a) a large shop signboard
b) a note in an unknown script
c) a typed school notice
d) a printed bus timetable
Show answer
b) a note in an unknown script
2. Handwriting that is very hard to decipher is ____.
a) legible
b) eligible
c) ineligible
d) illegible
Show answer
d) illegible
