Question

I heard some time that encryption and cipher are not the same thing, if so, what’s the difference?

Answer 1

You might take a look at this article on the difference between Encryption and Cryptography. It also addresses the definition of cipher in the process.

Excerpts:

What is Cryptography?

In simple terms, cryptography is the science concerned with the study of secret communication.

What is Encryption?

…

… “encryption” basically is some process or algorithm (known as a cipher) to make information hidden or secret. And to make that process useful, you need some code (or key) to make information accessible.