'encipher' originates from the prefix 'en-' meaning 'to cause to be' and the word 'cipher' meaning 'a secret or disguised way of writing'.

'encipher' evolved from the French word 'chiffre', which meant 'zero' or 'cipher', and eventually became the modern English word 'encipher'.

Initially, it meant 'to convert into a cipher', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.