apoc·​ry·​pha | \ ə-ˈpä-krə-fə How to pronounce apocrypha (audio) \

Definition of apocrypha

1 : writings or statements of dubious authenticity

2 capitalized

a : books included in the Septuagint and Vulgate but excluded from the Jewish and Protestant canons of the Old Testament — see Bible Table
b : early Christian writings not included in the New Testament

Examples of apocrypha in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Where Nay’s book was something of a meditation on Patriotic themes in Mormon teaching, the Bundy additions — this post-2014 apocrypha — change the entire document. Leah Sottile, Longreads, "Bundyville Chapter Four: The Gospel of Bundy," 18 May 2018 Now, any dog that comes as a rescue comes with its own apocrypha. Tom Junod, Esquire, "The State of The American Dog," 14 July 2014

First Known Use of apocrypha

1539, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for apocrypha

borrowed from Medieval Latin, neuter plural (for scripta apocrypha "uncanonical writings") of Late Latin apocryphus "secret, of doubtful authenticity, uncanonical," borrowed from Greek apókryphos "hidden, concealed, obscure," verbal adjective of apokrýptein "to hide (from), keep hidden (from)," from apo- apo- + krýptein "to conceal, hide" — more at crypt

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