A cryptographic system where users have a private key that is kept secret and used to generate a public key (which is freely provided to others). Users can digitally sign data with their private key and the resulting signature can be verified by anyone using the corresponding public key. Also known as a Public-key cryptography.
Source(s):
NISTIR 8202
See Asymmetric-key cryptography.
Source(s):
NISTIR 8202
under Public key cryptography