Dictionary

purport en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpɜːpət/ (UK)
• /ˈpɜːpɔːt/ (UK)
• (Australia) audio
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈpɚpɔɹt/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English purporten, from Anglo-Norman purporter and Old French porporter (“convey, contain, carry”), from pur-, from Latin pro (“forth”) + Old French porter (“carry”), from Latin portō (“carry”).

Meanings

1. Import, an intention or purpose.
   • Sorrowful, phantasmal as this same Double Aristocracy of Teachers and Governors now looks, it is worth all men’s while to know that the purport of it is, and remains, noble and most real. 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “I, Aristocracies”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book IV (Horoscope):
   • My practice, you say, refutes my doubts. But you mistake the purport of my question. 1748, [David Hume], Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, part 2:
   • A child’s brain starts functioning at birth; and has, amongst its many infant convolutions, thousands of dormant atoms, into which God has put a mystic possibility for noticing an adult’s act, and figuring out its purport. 1939, Ernest Vincent Wright, Gadsby:
   • Lenin repeats this admonition several times, and its purport is clear. 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 360:
2. (obsolete) A disguise; a covering.
   • For she her sex under that strange purport / Did use to hide. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 52:

Forms

Translations (20)

bg намерение (import) · pl znaczenie (import) · es propósito (import) · nl doel (import) · it proposito (import) · it mira (import) · it ambizione (import) · it intento (import) · fi tarkoitus (import) · hi मुराद (import) · pl sens (import) · nl gewicht (import) · gd brìgh (import) · nl intentie (import) · pl cel (import) · pt propósito (import) · hy իմաստ (import) · it aspirazione (import) · ru наме́рение (import) · it anelito (import)

purport en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• (Southern-England) audio
• /pəˈpɔːt/ (UK)
• /pɚˈpɔɹt/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English purporten, from Anglo-Norman purporter and Old French porporter (“convey, contain, carry”), from pur-, from Latin pro (“forth”) + Old French porter (“carry”), from Latin portō (“carry”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To convey, imply, or profess (often falsely or inaccurately).
   • He purports himself to be an international man of affairs.
   • The intermediate station seen here, Llanbister Road, is 5 hilly miles by road from the town it purports to serve. 1962 August, “More W.R. services in jeopardy”, in Modern Railways, page 82, photo caption:
2. To intend.
   • He purported to become an international man of affairs.
   • In all cases, however, although micronations may purport to assert sovereignty in any number of ways, they remain conceptually distinct from recognised sovereign states. 2022, Harry Hobbs, George Williams, “Prince Leonard Prepares for War” (chapter 1), in Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty, Cambridge University Press, →DOI, page 18:

Forms

Deriveds

purportless · purportion

Translations (52)

pt supor (to convey) · fr avoir l'intention (de) (to intend) · lt taikytis (to intend) · es intencionar (to intend) · nl van plan zijn (to intend) · ru намерева́ться (to intend) · sv avse (to intend) · pl zamierzać (to intend) · fr prétendre (to convey) · ru изобража́ть (to convey) · ro pretinde (to convey) · ka გამოხატვა (to convey) · es expresar (to convey) · de beabsichtigen (to intend) · it mirare (to intend) · es pretender (to intend) · nl beweren (to convey) · es implicar (to convey) · de unterstellen (to convey) · ro avea intenția (să) (to intend) · pt pretender (to convey) · pl podać się za (to convey) · de vorgeben (to convey) · sv påstå (to convey) · it anelare (to intend) · it aspirare (to intend) · lt dėtis (to convey) · fi esiintyä (to convey) · ru притворя́ться (to convey) · pl mieć zamiar (to intend) · bg загатвам (to convey) · hu szándékol (to intend) · ro intenționa (to intend) · fi esittää (to convey) · it supporre (to convey) · it presumere (to convey) · hu szándékozik (to intend) · bg претендирам (to convey) · tr hedeflemek (to intend) · pl podawać się za (to convey) · tr niyetlenmek (to intend) · it puntare (to intend) · ka გამოსახვა (to convey) · it pretendere (to convey) · it ambire (to intend) · fi aikoa (to intend) · ka ჩაფიქრება (to intend) · pl zamierzyć (to intend) · es afirmar (to convey) · pt dizer (to convey) · ru претендова́ть (to intend) · es profesar (to convey)