cryptogram

cryptogram — 名詞

1. a message that has been written in a secret code, so that only people who know h

1.名詞C1
釋義

密碼文

以密碼寫成、需解碼才能讀懂的文字

a message that has been written in a secret code, so that only people who know how to decode it can understand what it really says

例句

The spy hid a cryptogram inside the hollow heel of her left shoe.

那名間諜把一份 cryptogram 藏在她左鞋的空心鞋跟裡。

object of hide: a hidden coded message

Christopher spent the whole weekend trying to solve the cryptogram in the magazine.

Christopher 花了整個週末，想解開雜誌上的那則 cryptogram。

collocation: solve a cryptogram

同義詞
  • cipher

    can mean the coded text, but more often the system used to encode it

  • code

    broader everyday word; a cryptogram is specifically the written coded message

用法筆記

Often the object of verbs like solve, crack, or decode. Refers to the written coded text itself, not the method used to create it (that is a cipher or code).

常見錯誤

❌I used a cryptogram to hide the message.
✅I used a cipher to write the cryptogram.
💡a cryptogram is the finished coded text, while a cipher is the system that scrambles it.

2. a picture, sign, or shape that carries a secret or deeper meaning beyond what it

2.名詞C2
釋義

隱義符號

表面之外另藏深意的圖像或記號

a picture, sign, or shape that carries a secret or deeper meaning beyond what it appears to show on the surface

例句

The painter filled the portrait with small cryptograms that only close friends could read.

那位畫家在肖像中藏滿了小小的 cryptogram，只有摯友才看得懂。

image carrying a hidden meaning

Kofi believed the carved circle was a cryptogram for the rising sun.

Kofi 相信那個刻出來的圓圈是代表旭日的 cryptogram。

highlights: a symbol standing for a deeper idea

同義詞
  • symbol

    everyday word; a cryptogram suggests the meaning is deliberately hidden

  • emblem

    a sign that stands for something, but usually with an openly known meaning

用法筆記

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is a visual sign or image, not written code. Common in writing about art, design, or symbolism.