wordCipherWordsA European word that once named zero (from Arabic ṣifr) and later named secret writing. The word moved; it did not carry a single occult payload.Also known as ṣifr · sifrLate antiquityCipher is derived from Zero.The European word for zero is historically a borrowing-path, not an occult void. Secret writing is a later sense.from Kim Plofker · Mathematics in India, 2009derived from · sourced · documentedZero is historically related to Cipher.English cipher once named zero, from Arabic ṣifr, itself in conversation with Sanskrit śūnya. Later “cipher” as secret writing is another job of the word.from Kim Plofker · Mathematics in India, 2009historically related to · sourced · documentedEighteenth-century EuropeCipher is historically related to Writing.The later English sense of cipher as secret writing is a word’s career, not zero’s mathematical job.from Kim Plofker · Mathematics in India, 2009historically related to · interpretive · documentedsourcesMathematics in India · Kim PlofkerKim Plofker, Mathematics in India.