Apocryphally

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner relating to texts of doubtful authenticity or origin, or based on information that is unverified and possibly fabricated
2. In a manner associated with documents whose authenticity is uncertain and may involve unverifiable claims or narratives that lack formal acceptance
3. In a manner suggesting that the source or origin is uncertain and the truth is questionable

Etymology: "Apocryphally" is an adverb built from "apocryphal" plus the English suffix "-ly", which turns an adjective into a manner adverb. The adjective descends from Greek "apokryphos", meaning "hidden" or "concealed", from "apokrypsein", "to hide away", a compound of "apo-" ("away") and "kryptein" ("to hide"). The Greek sense of hidden referred to texts kept secret or withheld from general readership, and the word passed into Latin as "apocryphus" and then into English as "apocryphal". The English adjective originally described the biblical books excluded from the canon, such as those that Protestant churches did not accept as scripture. Its sense then broadened to mean writings or stories of doubtful authenticity, and eventually to any account that is probably untrue or cannot be verified. The adverb follows that drift: to say something is told "apocryphally" is to say it is repeated as a tale that lacks solid documentary support.