Abstract: The invention comprises a method and apparatus for performing a hashing operation on an N bit number under control of a prespecified N bit hashing constant which comprises performing N/K finite field partial multiplications of the object to be hashed by the hashing constant, utilizing K logic and combinatorial circuits all of which operate in parallel to completely evaluate the number in N/K operations.Another feature of the present invention is that the hashing constant loaded into the system may be changed at will with a resultant changing of the hashing characteristics to suit a particular class of objects to be hashed. This is done by a "select" operation.