Purport

//pɚˈpɔɹt// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Import, intention or purpose.

    "My practice, you say, refutes my doubts. But you mistake the purport of my question."

  2. 2
    the pervading meaning or tenor wordnet
  3. 3
    A disguise; a covering. obsolete

    "For she her sex under that strange purport / Did use to hide."

  4. 4
    the intended meaning of a communication wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To convey, imply, or profess (often falsely or inaccurately).

    "He purports himself to be an international man of affairs."

  2. 2
    propose or intend wordnet
  3. 3
    To intend.

    "He purported to become an international man of affairs."

  4. 4
    have the often specious appearance of being, intending, or claiming wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
aimdriftacademicacceptationaffective meaningaim

Example

More examples

"It’s quite obvious that the purport of these misanthropic theories consists in slandering the working masses, relieving imperialism from the responsibility for the bloody wars it provokes, and imposing the thought that wars are endless and are allegedly caused by aggressive tendencies in human nature."

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”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.