chiffre

Etymology

Borrowed from French chiffre

Noun

chiffre (plural chiffres)

1. (music) figure

Etymology

From Medieval Latin cifra (“zero”), from Andalusian Arabic صِفر‎ (ṣifr, “empty”). Doublet of zéro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃifʁ/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

chiffre m (plural chiffres)

1. a digit i.e. 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
2. (colloquial or dated) a number
3. figure (number)
4. cipher (method of transforming a text to conceal meaning)
5. cipher (code)
6. (music) figure
7. monogram

See also

• nombre
• numéro

Further reading

• “chiffre” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Alternative forms

Noun

chiffre m (oblique plural chiffres, nominative singular chiffres, nominative plural chiffre)

1. number; digit