purport

[per-pawrt, -pohrt, pur-pawrt, -pohrt, pur-pawrt, -pohrt]

verb (used with object)

1. to present, especially deliberately, the appearance of being; profess or claim, often falsely.

   a document purporting to be official.

2. to convey to the mind as the meaning or thing intended; express or imply.

   Synonyms: signify, intend, mean

noun

1. the meaning, import, or sense.

   the main purport of your letter.

   Synonyms: gist, trend, drift, implication

2. purpose; intention; object.

   the main purport of their visit to France.

purport

verb

1. to claim (to be a certain thing, etc) by manner or appearance, esp falsely

2. (esp of speech or writing) to signify or imply

noun

1. meaning; significance

2. purpose; object; intention

Other Word Forms

• purportless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of purport¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; (verb) late Middle English purporten, from Anglo-French purporter “to mean, signify,” Old French porporter “to carry, convey,” equivalent to pur- pro- ¹ + porter “to carry” (from Latin portāre ); (noun) late Middle English, from Anglo-French, derivative of the verb

Word History and Origins

Origin of purport¹

C15: from Anglo-French: contents, from Old French porporter to convey, from por- forth + porter to carry, from Latin portāre

Synonym Study

See meaning.

Example Sentences

When England toured Australia later that year, captain Ivo Bligh was given a small terracotta urn purported to contain the ashes of a burnt wooden bail.

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That exchange came four months after the purported "right of reply" email from the Mail on Sunday on 4 March 2011.

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“If a lapse was not valid, the policy may have remained in force, requiring the benefits be paid to the beneficiary if the insured died after the purported lapse.”

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"The actual malice here is the knowing dissemination of something that was purported to be verbatim, but which is not," said Mr Neuborne, the former national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

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Posts showing its fighters handing out aid to civilians were shared by some users, while the paramilitary's media office shared several clips purporting to show the humane treatment of army prisoners of war.

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Related Words

• imply 
• pose as www.thesaurus.com
• pretend 
• profess