purport

purport

1. The word is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun and with the stress on the second syllable as a verb.

2. The verb is used to express an alleged claim or suggestion, typically with an element of scepticism or even falsehood implied. The most common construction in current English is with a to-infinitive, as in

• Almost all the conditions and diseases that over-the-counter drugs of the past century were purported to relieve are still prevalent today —Addictive Diseases, 1977

• The Family Court of Australia held in contempt a layman who falsely purported to be a lawyer —D. Pannick, 1992

• The Seventh Letter contains what purports to be an autobiographical account by Plato of his early disillusionment with politics —J. Annas, 2003.

The use of purport followed by a that-clause, though recorded in the OED, has been largely superseded by a construction with an intervening verb, of the type purport to show (or confirm) that:

• An utterly incredible ‘poll’ appeared on election day purporting to show that the Tories were the ones who were threatening to take the seat —Socialist Worker Online, 2005 [OEC].

3. In the 1977 example above, purport is used in the passive, and in the 1992 example it is used with a person as the subject. Both these uses were frowned on by Fowler (1926), who regarded suppose (…were supposed to relieve…) as a more suitable choice in the first case and claim (…falsely claimed to be…) in the second; in other cases allege and profess are also possible. Despite Fowler's objections, these uses have become established and cause little adverse comment today.