apocrypha

Meaning

Noun

• Something, as a writing, that is of doubtful authorship or authority .

Origin

• From Middle English apocrypha, apocrifa, apocrif, from Late Latin apocryphus, from Ancient Greek ἀπόκρυφος, from ἀπό + κρύπτω. Properly plural (the singular would be apocryphon), but commonly treated as a collective singular. “Apocryphal” meaning “of doubtful authenticity” is first attested in English in 1590.