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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

apocryphal en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /əˈpɑkɹəfəl/ (US)
  • (US) audio
  • /əˈpɑkɹɪfəl/ (US)
  • /əˈpɒkɹəfəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /əˈpɒkɹɪfəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree English apocrypha Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English apocryphal From apocrypha + -al.

Meanings

  1. Of, or pertaining to, the Apocrypha.
    • […] ‘Tobit and his dog baith are altogether heathenish and apocryphal, and none but a prelatist or a papist would draw them into question. I doubt I hae been mista'en in you, friend.’ 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], chapter XXXVI, in Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:
    • Besides all this, he had read his Bible, including the apocryphal books; […] 1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XIX, in Adam Bede […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:
    • The Latins are throughout poorer. Tertullian and Cyprian will be referred to; but Jerome hates apocryphal literature, and says so, while Augustine, a valuable source of knowledge about some New Testament Apocrypha, never, it so happens, quotes spurious Old Testament literature at all. 1920, Montague Rhodes James, “Introductory”, in The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament:
  2. (broadly) Of doubtful authenticity, or lacking authority; not regarded as canonical.
    • The structural anthropologist urges us to ignore the orthodox who labor so patiently trying to eliminate the apocryphal variants from the one true text. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 11:
    • Many scholars consider the stories of the monk Teilo to be apocryphal.
  3. (broadly) Of dubious veracity; of questionable accuracy or truthfulness; anecdotal or in the nature of an urban legend.
    • Charles, already dispos'd by the evidence of his senses to think my pretences to virginity not entirely apocryphal, smothers me with kisses, begs me, in the name of love, to have a little patience, and that he will be as tender of hurting me as he would be of himself. 1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:
    • There is an apocryphal tale of a little boy plugging the dike with his finger.
    • I took the liberty of pointing out to my gentleman that the whole business looked apocryphal, and that a man does not, in real life, walk into a cellar door at four in the morning and come out of it with another man’s cheque for close upon a hundred pounds. 1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Story of the Door”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 8–9:
    • I confess I was a little dubious at first whether it was not one of those apocryphal tales often passed off upon inquiring travellers like myself, and which have brought our general character for veracity into such unmerited reproach. 1848, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “London Antiques”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
more apocryphal Degree=Cmp lexicographic
most apocryphal Degree=Sup lexicographic

Antonyms

canonical

Deriveds

semiapocryphal · unapocryphal

Relateds

apocryphalness · apocryphalist · Apocrypha · apocryphally

Synonyms

spurious · anecdotal · allonymous

Translations (55)

gv neuhickyr (of doubtful authenticity) · gl apócrifo (of doubtful authenticity) · sv tvivelaktig (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · es apócrifo (of or pertaining to Apocrypha) · ar منكر (of doubtful authenticity) · ja 典拠が疑わしい (of doubtful authenticity) · ru сомни́тельный (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · fi epäuskottava (of doubtful authenticity) · fi epäilyttävä (of doubtful authenticity) · fr apocryphe (of doubtful authenticity) · ar ضعيف (of doubtful authenticity) · is apókrýfur (of doubtful authenticity) · cmn 杜撰的 (of doubtful authenticity) · pl apokryficzny (of doubtful authenticity) · ja うその (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · is vafasamur að uppruna (of doubtful authenticity) · ga apacrafúil (of doubtful authenticity) · ar ضعيف (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · ru апокрифический (of or pertaining to Apocrypha) · hy պարականոն (of or pertaining to Apocrypha) · gv neuashlishagh (of doubtful authenticity) · es apócrifo (of doubtful authenticity) · eo apokrifa (of doubtful authenticity) · pl apokryfowy (of or pertaining to Apocrypha) · bg съмни́телен (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · fi epäuskottava (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · fi apokryfinen (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · ast apócrifu (of doubtful authenticity) · fi apokryfinen (of doubtful authenticity) · ru апокрифи́ческий (of doubtful authenticity) · eo apokrifa (of or pertaining to Apocrypha) · pt apócrifo (of doubtful authenticity) · is af vafasömum uppruna (of doubtful authenticity) · sv apokryfisk (of doubtful authenticity) · fi epäilyttävä (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · fi apokryfinen (of or pertaining to Apocrypha) · sv apokryfisk (of or pertaining to Apocrypha) · nl apocrief (of doubtful authenticity) · pl apokryficzny (of or pertaining to Apocrypha) · ja にせの (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · pl apokryficzny (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · pl apokryfowy (of doubtful authenticity) · bg апокри́фен (of doubtful authenticity) · gv apocryphoil (of or pertaining to Apocrypha) · de unecht (of doubtful authenticity) · sh апо̀крифан (of doubtful authenticity) · sh apòkrifan (of doubtful authenticity) · pl apokryfowy (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · ca apòcrif (of doubtful authenticity) · bg недостове́рен (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · ar مشكوك في صحته (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · ru недостове́рный (of dubious veracity; urban legend) · it apocrifo (of doubtful authenticity) · ar شاذ (of doubtful authenticity) · is vafasamur (of doubtful authenticity)