purport

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 14, 2020 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>purport</strong> &#149; \per-PORT\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> to have the often <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/specious">specious</a> appearance of being, intending, or claiming (something implied or inferred); <em>also</em> <strong>:</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/claim">claim</a></p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intend">intend</a>, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purpose#h2">purpose</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"One study at M.I.T. <em>purported</em> to show that the subway was a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/superspreader">superspreader</a> early in the pandemic, but its methodology was widely disputed." — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/02/nyregion/nyc-subway-coronavirus-safety.html">Christina Goldbaum, <em>The New York Times</em>, 2 Aug. 2020</a></p> <p>"To support his applications, Hayford provided lenders with fraudulent payroll documentation <em>purporting</em> to establish payroll expenses that were, in fact, nonexistent." — <a href="https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/aug/07/ex-walmart-manager-guilty-of-covid-relief-fraud/">editorial, <em>The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette</em>, 7 Aug. 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>The verb <em>purport</em> may be more familiar nowadays, but <em>purport</em> exists as a noun that passed into English from Anglo-French in the 15th century as a synonym of <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gist">gist</a></em>. Sir Walter Scott provides us with an example from his 19th-century novel <em>Rob Roy</em>: "I was a good deal mortified at the <em>purport</em> of this letter." Anglo-French also has