Literary notes about cypher (AI summary)
The term "cypher" is employed with remarkable versatility in literature. In many narratives it denotes a coded message or an encrypted system that characters must decipher, as when texts, letters, or telegrams are rendered unintelligible without a key ([1], [2], [3]). In the realm of thrillers and espionage, the cypher often becomes a crucial plot device—a numeric or symbolic key that unveils secret conspiracies or mysteries, as seen when protagonists work diligently to reassemble hidden instructions ([4], [5], [6]). Additionally, the word expands its meaning by metaphorically describing an enigmatic or inconspicuous individual who seems to lack form or identity ([7], [8]), while on official documents and objects it can mark authority and heritage through emblematic designs ([9], [10], [11]).
- "It was in cypher," said I, "and I could not read it."
— from Oddsfish! by Robert Hugh Benson - ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE LETTER WRITTEN BY THE COUNT ALMOST ENTIRELY IN CYPHER Here is the response of my heart, my beloved adored one.
— from The Romance of Lust: A classic Victorian erotic novel by Anonymous - Baker's letters were, of course, written in a sort of cypher, several kinds of which he was in the habit of using.
— from Democracy, an American novel by Henry Adams - Scudder had said it was the key to the Karolides business, and it occurred to me to try it on his cypher.
— from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan - I got rid of the innkeeper for the afternoon, for I was getting very warm in my search for the cypher.
— from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan - As I told you, it was a numerical cypher, and by an elaborate system of experiments I had pretty well discovered what were the nulls and stops.
— from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan - Trundle was a good specimen of the cypher or nullity; naturally, he is a figure at Manor Farm, but does nothing, and practically says nothing.
— from Pickwickian Studies by Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald - He had himself become a mere cypher in the kingdom over which he hoped one day to rule.
— from The Life of Marie de Medicis, Queen of France, Consort of Henri IV, and Regent of the Kingdom under Louis XIII — Volume 3 by Miss (Julia) Pardoe - —The standard, crimson with the royal cypher and crown; the guidon, differenced only from the standard by being rounded and slit at the ends.
— from The Flags of Our Fighting Army Including standards, guidons, colours and drum banners by Stanley C. (Stanley Currie) Johnson - The Royal 1st Devon and the Royal North Devon both bear the Royal Cypher, ensigned with the imperial crown on a crimson groundwork.
— from The Flags of Our Fighting Army Including standards, guidons, colours and drum banners by Stanley C. (Stanley Currie) Johnson - —The Royal Cypher within the Collar of the Order of the Thistle with the Badge appendant.
— from British Regiments at the Front, The Story of Their Battle Honours by Reginald Hodder
