decipher
‘to uncipher, explain secret writing’
Lexical development traced from the Tamil root:
E. deciffer, dischypher, discypher, decypher < de- + O.F. cifre ‘nought, zero,’ Med.Lat. cifra < Arab. sifr ‘zero’ < safara ‘to be empty’ < Skt. sunya-s ‘empty’< saifur < kaput- < Tamil kappu