purport

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster

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🗓️ 30 July 2024

⏱️ 2 minutes

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Summary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 30, 2024 is:

purport • \per-PORT\ • verb

To purport is to claim to be or do a particular thing when this claim may not be true.

// The report purports to be objective, but its bias is clear.

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Examples:

“With the surge in popularity of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, it has become more important than ever to ensure that related companies and projects are as ‘green’ as they purport to be.” — Zennon Kapron, Forbes, 18 July 2023

Did you know?

The Latin verb portare, meaning “to carry,” was the port of entry for many an English word, from the noun portfolio to familiar verbs report, support, and transport. (The port a ship uses comes from a different Latin source: portus, meaning “port.”) Purport too ultimately comes from portare, although its direct ancestor is the Anglo-French verb purporter, meaning “to carry” or “to mean.” Today, purport is typically used when someone or something makes a claim that may or may not be true; something purported to be a fact is not at all a sure thing. The skepticism that modern purporting generally requires wasn’t present in the original verb, however. In the late 17th century, a purported claim was assumed as true as any. And three centuries before that, to purport a message, idea, etc., was simply to convey it. Purport can also function as a noun with a meaning closely related to the older verb one: it can refer to the main or general meaning conveyed in a piece of writing, in someone’s actions, etc., as in “the purport of the visit” or “the essay’s purport.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for July 30th.
0:10.0	Today's word is purport is purport, spelled P-U-R-P-O-T.
0:15.8	Proport is a verb.
0:16.9	To purport is to claim to be or do a particular thing when this claim may not be true. Here's the word used in a sentence from Forbes.
0:26.2	With the surge in popularity of environmental, social, and governance investing,
0:32.0	it has become more important than ever to ensure that
0:35.6	related companies and projects are as green as they purport to be.
0:41.1	The Latin verb Portare, meaning to carry carry was the port of entry for many and English word
0:46.4	from the noun portfolio to familiar verbs like report support and transport.
0:51.9	The port a ship uses comes from a different Latin source, the word
0:56.0	Portus meaning port. Proport too comes ultimately from Portare, although its direct ancestor is the Anglo-French verb pure porte, meaning
1:07.0	to carrier to mean. Today, purport is typically used when someone or something makes a claim that may or may not be true.
1:15.6	Something purported to be a fact is not at all a sure thing.
1:19.2	The skepticism that modern purporting generally requires wasn't present in the original verb, however.
1:25.6	In the late 17th century a purported claim was assumed as true as any, and three centuries
1:31.8	before that to purport a message or idea was simply to convey it.
1:37.0	Proport can also function as a noun, with a meaning closely related to the older verb one.
1:42.4	It can refer to the main or general meaning conveyed in a piece of writing in someone's actions as in the purport of the visit or the essays purport. With your word of the the Essays Proport.
1:53.0	With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
1:59.0	Visit Marion Webster.
2:00.0	Visit Merriam Webster.com today.
2:02.0	For definitions, word play, and trending word lookups.
	...

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