crypto

Meaning

Noun

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, informal, uncountable) Clipping of cryptocurrency
2. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, informal, uncountable) Clipping of cryptography
3. (countable, uncountable) A secret supporter or follower.
4. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, informal, uncountable) Clipping of cryptococcus
5. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, informal, uncountable) Clipping of cryptococcosis
6. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, informal, uncountable) Clipping of cryptosporidium
7. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, informal, uncountable) Clipping of cryptosporidiosis

Adj

Secret or covert.

Synonyms

hidden

cryptograph

encipherment

abstruse

secret

㊙️

underground

criptography

Translations

criptografia

estenografia

codificació

esteganografia

Kryptografie

Steganografie

Steganographie

Verborgenheit

Verstecken

κρυπτογραφία

codage

cryptographie

stéganographie

codification

سرّي

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkɹɪptəʊ/

Etymology

All senses trace back to clippings of words derived from the prefix crypto-, developed at various times in the 20th and 21st centuries. During the 2010s and 2020s, the "cryptocurrency" sense has become the dominant sense. The "cryptography" sense predates that one; thus, a computer or math geek in earlier decades would be referring to cryptography when using this word. The "secret supporter or follower" sense is clipped from such terms as cryptofascist and cryptocommunist. The several informal senses in medicine referring to several microbe genera or the diseases they cause have existed since circa the mid-20th century.