Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of deciphering; interpretation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of deciphering.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The analysis of documents written in ancient languages, where the language is unknown, or knowledge of the language has been lost.
  • noun decryption

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the activity of making clear or converting from code into plain text

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Now the two are once again sundered from each other, and the literary fact, like the other objects that make up our social reality, cries out for commentary, for interpretation, for decipherment, for diagnosis.

    Willful Misreadings and Aspersions at Contra James Wood 2009

  • Now the two are once again sundered from each other, and the literary fact, like the other objects that make up our social reality, cries out for commentary, for interpretation, for decipherment, for diagnosis.

    2009 March 02 | NIGEL BEALE NOTA BENE BOOKS 2009

  • Only a feat of brilliant decipherment by Jean-François Champollion, working in the 1820s, allowed us to understand ancient Egypt again in its own terms.

    Beyond the Pharaohs Joseph Manning 2011

  • Nobel Prizes have recognized a number of the triumphs along the way, among them Watson, Crick and Wilkins 'decipherment of the helical structure of DNA and Roger Kornberg's uncovering of the workings of the enzyme RNA polymerase, which turns DNA into RNA.

    The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 - Speed Read 2009

  • Not even the decipherment of hieroglyphics at the beginning of the 19th century, and the discovery that most of what the Egyptians had written consisted of spells, royal propaganda, and tax returns, could quite serve to frustrate the impulse.

    The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson; Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt by Joyce Tyldesley; and Egyptian Dawn by Robert Temple Tom Holland 2010

  • It may even be true that some recent Maya epigraphers have at times been somewhat carried away in their boundless enthusiasm over the decipherment of yet another hieroglyphic symbol to add to the growing list of successful and verifiable readings.

    Primary sources of Maya history - part five 2008

  • While it is true, as critics of the Maya hieroglyphic decipherment like to point out, that the extant records deal almost exclusively with the aristocratic levels of society, we can nevertheless learn a great deal about significant social and cultural changes that must have affected the lives of Maya commoners.

    Primary sources of Maya history - part five 2008

  • While most Maya scholars and researchers acknowledge the importance of the breakthrough in the decipherment of the Maya system of writing, not everyone is convinced that this achievement radically changes our conception of the ancient Maya.

    Primary sources of Maya history - part five 2008

  • There is no doubt that Maya history really begins to unfold with the ongoing decipherment of the Maya script.

    Primary sources of Maya history - part five 2008

  • One might also be a little suspicious at the remarkable number of "ground-breaking discoveries" in the course of the decipherment.

    Primary sources of Maya history - part five 2008

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