decipher

Etymology

As decypher, but not retaining the y from the Old French etyma of cipher (cyfre, cyffre); the i spelling tends to be preferred etymologically, being consistent with its cognates, the French déchiffrer and the Italian decifrare, and with their common ancestor, the Medieval Latin cifra, cifera, ciphra.

verb

1. (transitive) To decode or decrypt a code or cipher to plain text.
2. (transitive) To read text that is almost illegible or obscure
3. (transitive) To make sense of a complex situation.
4. (transitive) To find a solution to a problem.

noun

1. A decipherment; a decoding.
   I enclose a letter which I received yesterday evening from the Marques de Monsalud, containing the decipher of a letter from the King to the Comte d'Erlon. I wish that the Marques had sent the ciphered letter here […] 1837, Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington, John Gurwood, The Dispatches of Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington, K.G.