Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of questionable authorship or authenticity.
- adjective Erroneous; fictitious.
- adjective Bible Of or having to do with the Apocrypha.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of doubtful authorship, authenticity, or inspiration; spurious; fictitious; false.
- Specifically— Eccles.: Of doubtful sanction; uncanonical; having no ecclesiastical authority.
- Of or pertaining to the Apocrypha: as, “the Apocryphal writers,” Addison.
- noun A writing not canonical; a book or passage of uncertain source, authority, or credit.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Pertaining to the Apocrypha.
- adjective Not canonical. Hence: Of doubtful authority; equivocal; mythic; fictitious; spurious; false.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of, or pertaining to, the Apocrypha.
- adjective Of
doubtful authenticity , or lackingauthority ; not regarded ascanonical . - adjective Of
dubious veracity ; of questionable accuracy or truthfulness;anecdotal or in the nature of anurban legend .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of or belonging to the Apocrypha
- adjective being of questionable authenticity
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The original and proper sense of the term apocryphal as applied to the pretended sacred books was early obscured.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Aachen-Assize 1840-1916 1913
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The term apocryphal in connection with special Gospels must be understood as bearing no more unfavourable an import than
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Aachen-Assize 1840-1916 1913
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The same is the opinion of the Jews respecting the other books, which we call apocryphal, as is manifest from all the copies of the Hebrew Bible extant; for, undoubtedly if they believed that any of these books were canonical, they would give them a place in their sacred volume.
The Canon of the Old and New Testaments Ascertained, or The Bible Complete without the Apocrypha and Unwritten Traditions. 1772-1851 1851
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And, of course, to label any regionor the literary representation of a regionas legitimate or apocryphal, is best left to the polemicists.
A Conversation with Mark Spragg about An Unfinished Life 2010
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If someone paraphrases those thoughts, and improperly puts quote marks around the paraphrase, then maybe apocryphal is not quite the right word for that impropriety.
The Volokh Conspiracy » “Government Is Not Reason, It Is Not Eloquence — It Is Force” 2010
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That these propositions cannot be affirmed of any other books claiming to be books of Scripture; by which are meant those books which are commonly called apocryphal books of the New Testament.
Evidence of Christianity William Paley 1774
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Babylonian captivity these books were apocryphal, that is, hidden or unknown to the people, they were constantly sacred — they bore the stamp of divinity — they were, as all the world agrees, the only monument of truth upon earth.
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Nor can any further light be gained from the story of what Mr. Lang has happily termed the apocryphal eight which the King of Scots stroked on the Dee in the reign of Edgar.
An Outline of the Relations between England and Scotland (500-1707) Robert S. Rait
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When he comes to the history of the Restoration from Babylon, Josephus follows what is now known as the apocryphal Book of Esdras, in preference to the Biblical Ezra and Nehemiah, probably because a
Josephus Norman Bentwich 1927
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Josephus follows what is now known as the apocryphal Book of Esdras, in preference to the Biblical Ezra and Nehemiah, probably because a Hellenistic guide whom he had before him did likewise.
Josephus Bentwich, Norman 1914
frindley commented on the word apocryphal
"Apocrypha — that is, books which are not regarded as equal to the holy Scriptures, and yet are profitable and good to read."
Martin Luther
April 1, 2008
seanahan commented on the word apocryphal
That's a pretty odd quote. Martin Luther was certainly quite radical, though by today's standards his stances were quite conservative. The Apocrypha are "not regarded as equal" for a number of reasons, not the least of which that they don't adhere to the strict message portrayed by the Catholic Church. I can imagine how Luther would support their reading.
April 2, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word apocryphal
Maybe this is an apocryphal quotation.
April 2, 2008
frindley commented on the word apocryphal
Within the Protestant church at least the Apocryphal books were/are considered edifying (i.e. "profitable and good to read") but not part of the canon for the establishment of church doctrine.
Luther, after all, considered the books worth the trouble of translating into German but, as I understand it, he rejected them as part of the canon because they contained useful defenses for such doctrines as purgatory and the saying of masses for the dead.
The quotation prefaces the Apocrypha in Luther's translation.
April 2, 2008
mohitanand commented on the word apocryphal
adjective: being of questionable authenticity
The web is notorious for sandwiching apocryphal stories between actual news.
October 19, 2016