Word of the Day
Word
Apocryphal (adj.) Listen
Difficulty
G — Levels range from A to J. What is my level?
Definition
Fictitious, false, spurious, of doubtful authenticity.
Details
APOCRYPHAL comes from the Greek APO, away, and CRYPTEIN, to hide. It is from the same source as the English word CRYPT, an underground vault. The word is thought by 26% of high school juniors to mean MYSTERIOUS, secret, occult, obscure, enigmatical. This is no doubt a confusion of APOCRYPHAL, spurious, with CRYPTIC, a word from the same Greek source, which has kept the original meaning hidden, secret. APOCRYPHAL is an adjective from the noun APOCRYPHA. An APOCRYPHA is any writing of doubtful authenticity. Spelled with a capital, APOCRYPHA refers to fourteen books of the Bible which do not appear in the Hebrew Bible but which occurred in the SEPTUAGINT and VULGATE versions of the Old Testament. They are now usually omitted. APOCRYPHAL means of doubtful authenticity. Listen Stop
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