plural in form but singular or plural in construction
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
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebSome cocktails have a history so contested, so laden with switchbacks and apocrypha, the general experience is like opening a compass to find the needle spinning freely in place. Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 6 Aug. 2022 Even Steve Jobs wouldn’t let his kids play with iPads, or so the apocrypha goes. Carter Bays, Good Housekeeping, 6 June 2022 Why complicate a perfectly fun bunch of sequels with the strictures of continuity and apocrypha? Adam Rogers, Wired, 11 Feb. 2021 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, 18 May 2018
Word History
Etymology
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