Apocryphon

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A writing considered to have questionable validity, frequently linked to religious texts excluded from official canons
2. A document or literary work regarded as sacred yet not officially acknowledged within religious doctrine, often of disputed origin
3. A text that is deemed dubious in authenticity, often associated with religious literature excluded from canonical status

Etymology: The Greek word "apókruphon" meant simply "something hidden or secret," and it was built from "apo-", "away," and "kryptein," "to hide." The adjective "apókryphos" described things kept out of sight, and the neuter form turned it into a noun for a concealed or private writing. Its sense of "questionable" only developed later, once texts were sorted into those that were authoritative and those that were not. That shift is the heart of the word's story. In English, "apocrypha" (the plural of "apocryphon") first came to refer to the books that appear in some Bible traditions but not in the Hebrew canon or Protestant Bibles, and "apocryphal" then grew into the everyday sense of "of doubtful authenticity." A word that once meant "hidden" came to mean "not to be trusted," because the texts it named were hidden from official acceptance rather than from the reader's eyes.