cryptarithm

noun

cryp·​ta·​rithm ˈkrip-tə-ˌri-t͟həm 

: an arithmetic problem in which letters have been substituted for numbers and which is solved by finding all possible pairings of digits with letters that produce a numerically correct answer

Examples of cryptarithm in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Here is a cryptarithm (digit substitution) puzzle that may help (incidentally, all these words are acceptable in Scrabble). —Quanta Magazine, 20 Apr. 2021

Word History

Etymology

crypt- + -arithm (as in logarithm), after French cryptarithmie, alluding to either such problems collectively or to the branch of mathematics dealing with them

Note: The word cryptarithm was apparently introduced by the Minsk-born Belgian mathematician Maurice Kraitchik (1882-1957) in Mathematical Recreations (New York, 1942), pp. 79-80. Kraitchik states that he has translated French cryptarithmie as "cryptarithmetic," but then refers to an arithmetical operation in which letters have been substituted for numbers as a "cryptarithm." The word cryptarithmie was allegedly introduced by the Belgian mathematician Simon Vatriquant (1892-1966), under the pseudonym "Minos," in the May, 1931, issue of Sphinx: Revue mensuelle des questions récréatives.

First Known Use

1943, in the meaning defined above