cryptography: Meaning and Definition of

cryp•tog•ra•phy

1. the science or study of the techniques of secret writing, esp. code and cipher systems, methods, and the like. Cf. cryptanalysis (def. 2).
2. the procedures, processes, methods, etc., of making and using secret writing, as codes or ciphers.
3. anything written in a secret code, cipher, or the like.