Is it ever acceptable to pluralize the word "encryption" to "encryptions"? [closed]

Solution 1:

Well.. I say that 'encryption' in itself is a process. I mean it would not make sense to pluralize words like 'cookings' or 'cleanings'. They are ways. More broadly a strategy. Would it make sense to pluralize 'manufacturing' to 'manufacturings'..? No.

You are right in correcting the word 'encryptions'. It makes no sense. You can probably use words like 'processes','methods', 'algorithms', 'formats', 'mechanisms', 'standards , or something similar with dictates the use of 'encryption' as the process for the particular context.

Solution 2:

I think this sentence definitely misses the mark for English vocabulary.

First, 'Cryptology' is probably the wrong word in this context. In security parlance, it is usually given as 'Cryptography'; and in the strict grammatical sense he's talking about writing encoded messages. Here's an interesting article pointing out the difference between the two words.

Second, 'encryption' is typically not pluralized and given in security parlance as simple 'encryption' and is pluralized in context. While 'encryptions' is the historical plural form of encryption, it is antiquated/obsolete. Compare this to the plural form of money, 'moneys', which you almost never see (except perhaps in stuffy legal documents etc) although it is technically the correct word.

Types of encryption are typically given as the word encryption with a plural noun afterwards: e.g. "encryption algorithms," "encryption techniques," "encryption methods," "encryption ciphers," "encryption technologies," etc.

In the end, it sounds like the person writing this is relying too heavily on a questionably dated dictionary and not in the modern context of the language.

Solution 3:

Q1.
ever ?? A question posed with that word surely has the answer "yes".

Google Books shows the use of "encryptions" in many scholarly cryptography texts. Example:

MLE gets A' and b' (i.e., encryptions of A and b, respectively)
LINK