Here are all the definitions I could find for the word Cipher. I also discovered that a company named Reliant makes models of cars named Cipher, Sabre, and Scimitar. And I found a webpage about swords that had a description of a sword that had "having on the hilt the Tudor crown instead of the St Edward's and the cipher of Edward VII in place of that of Victoria." and a few other pages with similar items...
cipher
\Ci"pher\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ciphered; p. pr. & vb. n. Ciphering.] To use figures in a mathematical process; to do sums in arithmetic.``T was certain he could write and cipher too. --Goldsmith
cipher
\Ci"pher\, v. t. 1. To write in occult characters.His notes he ciphered with Greek characters. --Hayward.
2. To get by ciphering; as, to cipher out the answer.
3. To decipher. [Obs.] --Shak.
4. To designate by characters. [Obs.] --Shak.
cipher
\Ci"pher\, n. [OF. cifre zero, F. Chiffre figure (cf. Sp. cifra, LL. cifra), fr. Ar. [,c]ifrun, [,c]afrun, empty, cipher, zero, fr. [,c]afira to be empty. Cf. Zero.] 1. (Arith.) A character [0] which, standing by itself, expresses nothing, but when placed at the right hand of a whole number, increases its value tenfold.2. One who, or that which, has no weight or influence.
Here he was a mere cipher. --W. Irving.
3. A character in general, as a figure or letter. [Obs.]
This wisdom began to be written in ciphers and characters and letters bearing the forms of creatures. --Sir W. Raleigh.
4. A combination or interweaving of letters, as the initials of a name; a device; a monogram; as, a painter's cipher, an engraver's cipher, etc. The cut represents the initials N. W.
5. A private alphabet, system of characters, or other mode of writing, contrived for the safe transmission of secrets; also, a writing in such characters.
His father . . . engaged him when he was very young to write all his letters to England in cipher. --Bp. Burnet.
cipher
\Ci"pher\, a. Of the nature of a cipher; of no weight or influence. ``Twelve cipher bishops.'' --Milton.cipher
n 1: a message written in a secret code [syn: cypher] 2: a mathematical element that when added to another number yields the same number [syn: zero, 0, nought, cypher] 3: a quantity of no importance; "it looked like nothing I had ever seen before"; "reduced to nil all the work we had done"; "we racked up a pathetic goose egg"; "it was all for naught"; "I didn't hear zilch about it" [syn: nothing, nil, nix, nada, aught, cypher, goose egg, naught, zero, zilch, zip] 4: a person of no influence [syn: cypher, nobody, nonentity] 5: a secret method of writing [syn: cypher, cryptograph, secret code] v 1: convert ordinary language into code; "We should encode the message for security reasons" [syn: encode, code, encipher, cypher, encrypt, inscribe, write in code] [ant: decode] 2: make a mathematical calculation or computation [syn: calculate, cypher, compute, reckon, figure]Main Entry: 1ci·pher
Pronunciation:
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French cifre, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic sifr empty, cipher, zero
Date: 14th century
1 a : ZERO 1a b : one that has no weight, worth, or influence : NONENTITY
2 a : a method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning -- compare CODE 3b b : a message in code
3 : ARABIC NUMERAL
4 : a combination of symbolic letters; especially : the interwoven initials of a name
Main Entry: 2cipher
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): ci·phered; ci·pher·ing /
Date: circa 1530
intransitive senses : to use figures in a mathematical process
transitive senses
1 : ENCIPHER
2 : to compute arithmetically
So the bottom line is that cipher is a zero. It's not a sword. The name of Strider's sword is Cipher, but as far as I have been looking, I can't see anywhere that there is a definite reason for it. My best guess is that the weapon Strider uses has a 'perfect' edge or something, so zero error or something like that.
It makes sense in an abstract sorta way.
