Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To have or present the often false appearance of being or intending; profess: selfish behavior that purports to be altruistic.
- v. To have the intention of doing; purpose.
- n. Meaning presented, intended, or implied; import. See Synonyms at substance.
- n. Intention; purpose.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To convey to the mind as the meaning or thing intended; imply; mean, or seem to mean: as, the document purported to be official.
- n. Meaning; tenor; import; nature: as, the purport of a letter.
- n. Pretext; disguise; covering.
- n. Synonyms Gist, drift, sense, signification.
Wiktionary
- v. To convey, imply, or profess outwardly, often falsely.
- v. To intend.
- n. import, intention or purpose
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Design or tendency; meaning; import; tenor.
- n. Disguise; covering.
- v. To intend to show; to intend; to mean; to signify; to import; -- often with an object clause or infinitive.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the intended meaning of a communication
- v. have the often specious appearance of being, intending, or claiming
- v. propose or intend
- n. the pervading meaning or tenor
Etymologies
- Middle English purporten, to set forth, from Anglo-Norman purporter : pur-, forth (from Latin prō-; see pro-1) + porter, to carry (from Latin portāre; see per-2 in Indo-European roots).
Examples
“Admittedly, this is much ado about nothing since the Dems control the legislature and the state, and the few state republicans left will watch gleefully as the dems once again purport to tell the voters what's good for them. ichong”
“Not a penny of it has reached the contracted artists the labels purport to represent.”
“*** The main purport of my writing is, to tell you that we have found a house for the next half year.”
“To the same purport is v. 8, for the transgression of my people was he smitten, the stroke was upon him that should have been upon us; and so some read it, He was cut off for the iniquity of my people, unto whom the stroke belonged, or was due.”
“We have many promises to this purport from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, and all to encourage faith, the principal grace, and prayer, the principal duty, of a”
“To the same purport is that (v. 14), That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy”
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation)
“While the lenders reserved all other rights and remedies that might be available under the credit agreement, but "did not by its terms purport to accelerate the maturity of the obligations outstanding.”
“While the labels purport to "help customers find their stores 'healthiest foods," Stier reminds us,”
“Probably events like these fall outside the penumbra of those laws, but their purport is clear – your responsibility as an employer is to not discriminate, and if 90% of your workforce, for instance is male and white, you’d have some ’splaining to do.”
“To make my Dream more monstrous and unlikely, one of these had words and sentences upon its body, inscribed there, at an unknown time, and in an unknown language; so that their purport was a mystery to all men.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘purport’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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The Enterprise
enterprise, gameplan, goal, gimmick, intendment of int..., lay of the land, machination, notions, object, objectives, pitch, picture and 54 more...
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Any port
support, deport, export, import, report, disport, rapport, teleport, transport, besport, watersport, spoilsport and 15 more...
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