1993-12-12 - Re: “Cipher”
Header Data
From: adam fast <adamfast@u.washington.edu>
To: Arthur Chandler <arthurc@crl.com>
Message Hash: 61a72d6e11e13bf8cd4869a7a3309db07fcaf5a1a930eafed75ff99ab250589d
Message ID: <Pine.3.87.9312111732.A21634-0100000@goren1.u.washington.edu>
Reply To: <Pine.3.87.9312111505.A16266-0100000@crl.crl.com>
UTC Datetime: 1993-12-12 01:12:08 UTC
Raw Date: Sat, 11 Dec 93 17:12:08 PST
Raw message
From: adam fast <adamfast@u.washington.edu>
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 93 17:12:08 PST
To: Arthur Chandler <arthurc@crl.com>
Subject: Re: "Cipher"
In-Reply-To: <Pine.3.87.9312111505.A16266-0100000@crl.crl.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.3.87.9312111732.A21634-0100000@goren1.u.washington.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
> Arthur Chandler
> Neil Postman, in his *Technopoly*, asserts that the word "cipher" derives
> ultimately from the Hindu word for void, and therefore "suggests the idea
> of nothingness." (p 128) Does anyone else have info on the origin of this
> word? Is Postman correct?
the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language suggests the
origin of the word cipher as:
[Middle English cifre, zero, from Old French, from Medieval Latin cifra,
from Arabic sifr]
it doesn't go back further than that, but Postman's etymology seems sound...
ciao
adam
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Return to “hughes@ah.com (Eric Hughes)”
- 1993-12-11 (Sat, 11 Dec 93 15:37:06 PST) - “Cipher” - Arthur Chandler <arthurc@crl.com>
- 1993-12-12 (Sat, 11 Dec 93 17:12:08 PST) - Re: “Cipher” - adam fast <adamfast@u.washington.edu>
- 1993-12-12 (Sun, 12 Dec 93 07:27:19 PST) - Re: “Cipher” - adwestro@ouray.Denver.Colorado.EDU (Alan Westrope)
- 1993-12-12 (Sun, 12 Dec 93 10:27:22 PST) - “Cipher” - hughes@ah.com (Eric Hughes)