crypto

See also: crypto-

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

crypto

Etymology

All senses trace back to clippings of words derived from the prefix crypto-, developed at various times in the 20th and 21st centuries. During the 2010s and 2020s, the "cryptocurrency" sense has become the dominant sense. The "cryptography" sense predates that one; thus, a computer or math geek in earlier decades would be referring to cryptography when using this word. The "secret supporter or follower" sense is clipped from such terms as cryptofascist and cryptocommunist. The several informal senses in medicine referring to several microbe genera or the diseases they cause have existed since circa the mid-20th century.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪptəʊ/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪptoʊ/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪptəʊ

Noun

crypto (countable and uncountable, plural cryptos)

(informal, cryptocurrencies) Clipping of cryptocurrency.
- 2021 February 12, Fred Muvunyi, “Nigeria's cryptocurrency crackdown causes confusion”, in Deutsche Welle News‎^[1], Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 2021-02-13, World:
  Nigeria—the world's second-largest Bitcoin market after the United States—has banned the trading of cryptocurrencies. It's triggered anger among Nigerians who see cryptos as a safe haven in a battered economy.
- 2021 April 26, Ryan Browne, “A second bitcoin exchange collapses in Turkey amid crackdown on cryptocurrencies”, in CNBC‎^[2], retrieved 2021-04-26:
  Some Turks have turned to crypto as a way to protect their savings from skyrocketing inflation and the weakening of its currency, the lira.
- 2021 September 5, Eric Lipton, Ephrat Livni, “Crypto’s Rapid Move Into Banking Elicits Alarm in Washington”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:
  But to state and federal regulators and some members of Congress, the entry of crypto into banking is cause for alarm.
(uncountable, informal) Clipping of cryptography.
- 2004, Chey Cobb, Cryptography For Dummies, page 20:
  The CIA is also very into crypto (which makes sense, as they are the home of spy versus spy), […]
A secret supporter or follower.
- 2016, George Orwell, Peter Davison, George Orwell: A Life in Letters:
  Martin of course is far too dishonest to be outright a crypto or fellow-traveller, but his main influence is pro-Russian and is certainly intended to be so, and I feel reasonably sure he would quislingise in the case of a Russian occupation, if he had not managed to get away on the last plane.
(informal, medicine) Clipping of cryptococcus.
(informal, medicine) Clipping of cryptococcosis.
(informal, medicine) Clipping of cryptosporidium.
(informal, pathology) Clipping of cryptosporidiosis.
- 1996 September, Michael Immel, “The Changing Story of a Virus”, in Gay Community News, page 7:
  With immune system damage come the infections associated with AIDS: PCP, MAC, toxoplasmosis, crypto, meningitis, thrush, lymphomas, CM, fungal infections, and many others.

Derived terms

Adjective

crypto (comparative more crypto, superlative most crypto)

Secret or covert.
(Can we add an example for this sense?)

Related terms

crypto-

Latin

Noun

cryptō

dative/ablative singular of crypton

Portuguese

Noun

crypto f (plural cryptos)

Alternative form of cripto