"cifre" meaning in Middle English

See cifre in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈsifrə/, /ˈsifər/ Forms: cyffre [alternative], siphre [alternative], sypher [alternative], syphyr [alternative]
Etymology: Borrowed from Old French cyfre, cyffre, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr). Etymology templates: {{bor+|enm|fro|cyfre}} Borrowed from Old French cyfre, {{der|enm|ML.|cifra}} Medieval Latin cifra, {{der|enm|ar|صِفْر}} Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr) Head templates: {{head|enm|noun}} cifre
  1. The mathematical symbol or figure 0, representing the number zero.
    Sense id: en-cifre-enm-noun-5D7neGuz Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 32 35 33
  2. (rare) Any symbol or figure used in mathematics. Tags: rare
    Sense id: en-cifre-enm-noun-8loaERvC Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header, Arithmetic Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 32 35 33 Disambiguation of Arithmetic: 13 77 10
  3. (figurative, rare) Something that improves something else's worth despite being without worth alone. Tags: figuratively, rare
    Sense id: en-cifre-enm-noun-wny2TnTv Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 32 35 33

Alternative forms

{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en",
            "2": "cipher",
            "3": "cypher"
          },
          "expansion": "English: cipher, cypher",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "English: cipher, cypher"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "cyfre"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from Old French cyfre",
      "name": "bor+"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ML.",
        "3": "cifra"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin cifra",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ar",
        "3": "صِفْر"
      },
      "expansion": "Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Old French cyfre, cyffre, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cyffre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "siphre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sypher",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "syphyr",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun"
      },
      "expansion": "cifre",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "32 35 33",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The mathematical symbol or figure 0, representing the number zero."
      ],
      "id": "en-cifre-enm-noun-5D7neGuz",
      "links": [
        [
          "zero",
          "zero"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "32 35 33",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 77 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Arithmetic",
          "orig": "enm:Arithmetic",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any symbol or figure used in mathematics."
      ],
      "id": "en-cifre-enm-noun-8loaERvC",
      "links": [
        [
          "mathematics",
          "mathematics"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) Any symbol or figure used in mathematics."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "32 35 33",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something that improves something else's worth despite being without worth alone."
      ],
      "id": "en-cifre-enm-noun-wny2TnTv",
      "links": [
        [
          "worth",
          "worth"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative, rare) Something that improves something else's worth despite being without worth alone."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsifrə/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsifər/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cifre"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English nouns",
    "Middle English terms borrowed from Old French",
    "Middle English terms derived from Arabic",
    "Middle English terms derived from Medieval Latin",
    "Middle English terms derived from Old French",
    "Pages with 4 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "enm:Arithmetic"
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en",
            "2": "cipher",
            "3": "cypher"
          },
          "expansion": "English: cipher, cypher",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "English: cipher, cypher"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "cyfre"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from Old French cyfre",
      "name": "bor+"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ML.",
        "3": "cifra"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin cifra",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ar",
        "3": "صِفْر"
      },
      "expansion": "Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr)",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Old French cyfre, cyffre, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cyffre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "siphre",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sypher",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "syphyr",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun"
      },
      "expansion": "cifre",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The mathematical symbol or figure 0, representing the number zero."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "zero",
          "zero"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Middle English terms with rare senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any symbol or figure used in mathematics."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "mathematics",
          "mathematics"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) Any symbol or figure used in mathematics."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Middle English terms with rare senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something that improves something else's worth despite being without worth alone."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "worth",
          "worth"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative, rare) Something that improves something else's worth despite being without worth alone."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsifrə/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsifər/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cifre"
}

Download raw JSONL data for cifre meaning in Middle English (2.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Middle English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-16 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (074e7de and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.