Timeline for Cipher vs. Cypher

5 events

when toggle format	what		by	license	comment
Jul 25, 2015 at 15:57	comment	added	Janus Bahs Jacquet		The Arabic word does not derive from Sanskrit śūnyas; it is a translation of it. Śūnyā is an abstract noun (derived from the adjective śūnyas meaning ‘empty’), which denotes the number zero; the Arabic root ṣ-f-r means ‘empty’, and from it, an abstract noun ṣifr was created by analogy with the Sanskrit abstract noun to make a word for the notion of ‘zero’. This is what’s known as a calque.
Jan 25, 2014 at 16:35	comment	added	Peter Shor		The English would have been aware of both Mediaeval Latin and Old French. Cypher seems to have gotten the "ph" from Mediaeval Latin and the "y" from Old French, so both etymologies are justified.
Jan 25, 2014 at 16:07	comment	added	Å Stuart		I see, I wasn't aware of that, thanks. But, most dictionaries I checked derive it in M.E from M.L ciphra.
Jan 25, 2014 at 16:07	comment	added	Peter Shor		The standard spelling in the 18th century was cypher. See the Google Ngram here. For etymology, the OED gives: Old French cyfre, cyffre (modern French chiffre).
Jan 25, 2014 at 15:59	history	answered	Å Stuart	CC BY-SA 3.0