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Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with 'File:lightestill.jpgright|frame ==Origin== after French ''déchiffrer'' , in 15th cent. ''deschiffrer'' , des- , de- (de- prefix 1f) + chiffre [http://e...'
[[File:lightestill.jpg]][[File:Linearb.jpg|right|frame]]
==Origin==
after French ''déchiffrer'' , in 15th cent. ''deschiffrer'' , des- , de- (de- prefix 1f) + chiffre [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipher cipher].
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_century 1545]
==Defiinitions==
*1: decode
*2: obsolete : depict
*3a : to make out the [[meaning]] of despite indistinctness or [[obscurity]]
:b : to [[interpret]] the [[meaning]] of
==Description==
'''Decipherment''' is the [[analysis]] of [[documents]] written in ancient languages, where the language is [[unknown]], or [[knowledge]] of the language has been lost.
It is closely related to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptanalysis cryptanalysis] — the [[difference]] being that the [[original]] document was not deliberately written to be [[difficult]] to decipher.
The term has also been used to describe the [[analysis]] of the genetic [[information]] encoded in [[DNA]] - see the [[Human Genome Project]] article for more on this.
Some people have also used the word metaphorically to mean something like '[[understanding]]'.
Examples of successful script decipherment:
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform_script Cuneiform script]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharoshthi Kharoshthi script]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B Linear B]
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]
==Origin==
after French ''déchiffrer'' , in 15th cent. ''deschiffrer'' , des- , de- (de- prefix 1f) + chiffre [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipher cipher].
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_century 1545]
==Defiinitions==
*1: decode
*2: obsolete : depict
*3a : to make out the [[meaning]] of despite indistinctness or [[obscurity]]
:b : to [[interpret]] the [[meaning]] of
==Description==
'''Decipherment''' is the [[analysis]] of [[documents]] written in ancient languages, where the language is [[unknown]], or [[knowledge]] of the language has been lost.
It is closely related to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptanalysis cryptanalysis] — the [[difference]] being that the [[original]] document was not deliberately written to be [[difficult]] to decipher.
The term has also been used to describe the [[analysis]] of the genetic [[information]] encoded in [[DNA]] - see the [[Human Genome Project]] article for more on this.
Some people have also used the word metaphorically to mean something like '[[understanding]]'.
Examples of successful script decipherment:
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform_script Cuneiform script]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharoshthi Kharoshthi script]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B Linear B]
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]
