cipher (s#fr), n.

• 5. a person of no influence; nonentity.
• 6. a secret method of writing, as by transposition or substitution of letters, specially formed symbols, or the like.

[13501400; ME siphre < ML ciphra < Ar şifr صفر empty, zero; trans. of Skt śūnya शून्य empty]

—Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary