pseudepigrapha

American  

[soo-duh-pig-ruh-fuh] / ˌsu dəˈpɪg rə fə /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. certain writings (other than the canonical books and the Apocrypha) professing to be Biblical in character.

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Pseudepigrapha British  

/ ˌsjuːdɛpɪˈɡræfɪk, ˌsjuːdɪˈpɪɡrəfə /

plural noun

1. Also called (in the Roman Catholic Church): Apocrypha.  various Jewish writings from the first century _bc to the first century _ad that claim to have been divinely revealed but which have been excluded from the Greek canon of the Old Testament

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Other Word Forms

• Pseudepigraphic adjective
• pseudepigraphal adjective
• pseudepigraphic adjective
• pseudepigraphical adjective
• pseudepigraphous adjective

Etymology

Origin of pseudepigrapha

1685–95; < New Latin < Greek, neuter plural of pseudepíigraphos falsely inscribed, bearing a false title. See pseud-, epigraph, -ous

Example Sentences

Dr. Charles Francis Potter, Manhattan Humanist and Bible expert, has worked for years, will work for years more, on a psychological study of Jesus in which the pseudepigrapha will figure.

From Time Magazine Archive

The only essential difference is that the Midrashic form prevails in the Haggadah, and the parenetic or apocalyptic form in the pseudepigrapha.

From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Szold, Henrietta

However, in the appreciation of Jewish Legends, it is the Rabbinic writers that should form the point of departure, and not the pseudepigrapha.

From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Szold, Henrietta

The use of these pseudepigrapha requires great caution.

From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Szold, Henrietta

From the point of view of legends, the apocryphal books are of subordinate importance, while the pseudepigrapha are of fundamental value.

From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Szold, Henrietta