purport

American  

[per-pawrt, -pohrt, pur-pawrt, -pohrt, pur-pawrt, -pohrt] / pərˈpɔrt, -ˈpoʊrt, ˈpɜr pɔrt, -poʊrt, ˈpɜr pɔrt, -poʊrt /

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

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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 British  

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

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noun

1. meaning; significance

2. purpose; object; intention

Related Words

See meaning.

Other Word Forms

• purportless adjective

Etymology

Origin of purport

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

Example Sentences

Senior coroner Mutch added the "purported expertise" of untrained people posed a risk to all children where those unregulated services were used.

From BBC

The results followed a campaign during which videos purporting to show figures close to the Freedom party were caught discussing ways to circumvent lobbying rules or misuse public funds.

From The Wall Street Journal

Musk began around May 2022 to tweet about Twitter's purported issues with fake accounts, or "bots," and said the deal was "on hold" before announcing he wanted out of the deal entirely.

From BBC

“To have purported agents, gentleman in street clothes, executing an arrest, failing to identify themselves, not having previously announced themselves and asking the judge’s permission to take action in the courtroom is extraordinary,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

In some cases, they’re spending over $1,000 a month on capsules, powders and injections that purport to improve sleep, fertility, longevity and more, but often aren’t approved for those purposes.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• imply
• pose as
• pretend
• profess