17 Dec
2003
17 Dec
'03
11:17 p.m.
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