What does pigpen mean?
A pigpen is an enclosure where pigs are kept. In rural contexts, the word is practical and literal, referring to a simple structure containing shelter, feeding troughs, and an open area for the animals. In the second major sense, a pigpen is a geometric cipher in which letters are represented by combinations of lines, corners, and dots. Its name comes from the resemblance of these symbols to the marks and sections used to construct pig enclosures. The cipher is historically associated with Freemasons and later appeared in military use and popular entertainment, including puzzle books and television. Although a pigsty can carry a strongly negative metaphorical meaning when describing a filthy or disordered human environment, a pigpen ordinarily retains the neutral sense of a designated enclosure for animals.
nounAn enclosure in which pigs are kept. The term also denotes a geometric cipher or alphabet made from the lines and dots used to construct such enclosures.
- A small enclosure or pen used for keeping pigs.
- A geometric cipher or alphabet composed of simple lines and dots, historically associated with Freemasons and later used in popular culture.
"The pigpen beside the barn was reinforced with another length of wire."
"Several pigs crowded around the trough inside the pigpen."
"The children decoded the message by arranging symbols in the pattern of a pigpen alphabet."
Used for separate or multiple pig enclosures; the plural form may also refer to multiple pigpen ciphers or alphabets.
"The farm has several pigpens arranged beside the barn."
The familiar pigpen cipher turns the bars and corners of an ordinary animal enclosure into an entire secret alphabet.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of pigpen
Pigpen is an English compound formed from “pig” and “pen,” with “pen” denoting an enclosure for animals. The word was in use by the nineteenth century, well before the cipher acquired the same name. The cryptographic sense developed because the cipher's lines, angles, and dots resembled a pattern of adjoining pig pens.
How pigpen is actually used
In its literal sense, the word is straightforwardly rural or agricultural. In its cryptographic sense, it is usually named as the “pigpen cipher” or “pigpen alphabet.”
Easily confused with pigpen
A pigpen is simply an enclosure for pigs, whereas a pigsty can also refer metaphorically to a dirty, cluttered, or badly maintained place.