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Purpose vs Purport - What's the difference?

purpose | purport |

In obsolete terms the difference between purpose and purport

is that purpose is instance; example while purport is disguise; covering.

As nouns the difference between purpose and purport

is that purpose is an object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal while purport is import, intention or purpose.

As verbs the difference between purpose and purport

is that purpose is have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan while purport is to convey, imply, or profess outwardly (often falsely).

purpose

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • An object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington
    • , volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
  • A result that is desired; an intention.
  • The act of intending to do something; resolution; determination.
  • * 2013 , Phil McNulty, "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23830980]", BBC Sport , 1 September 2013:
    • United began with more purpose in the early phase of the second half and Liverpool were grateful for Glen Johnson's crucial block from Young's goalbound shot.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Sarah Glaz
    • , title= Ode to Prime Numbers , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.}}
  • The subject of discourse; the point at issue.
    • (Spenser)
  • The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way.
    • The purpose of turning off the lights overnight is to save energy.
  • (obsolete) Instance; example.
    • (rfquotek, L'Estrange)
    Synonyms
    * (target ): aim, goal, object, target * (intention ): aim, plan, intention * (determination ): determination, intention, resolution * (subject of discourse ): matter, subject, topic * (reason for doing something ): reason * See also
    Derived terms
    (terms derived from purpose) * all-purpose * common purpose * cross-purpose * fit for purpose * for all intents and purposes * game with a purpose * general-purpose * infinitive of purpose * multi-purpose * metapurpose * purpose-built * purposeful * purposeless * purpose-like * purpose loan * purposely * purpose statement * on purpose

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Verb

    (purpos)
  • Have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.
  • * Macaulay
    • I purpose to write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time which is within the memory of men still living.
  • (passive ) Designed for some purpose.
  • (obsolete) To have a purpose or intention; to discourse.
    • (Spenser)
    Derived terms
    * purposed * purposer * purposive * on purpose
    Synonyms
    * (have set as one's purpose ): aim, intend, mean, plan, set out * (designed for some purpose ): intended

    References

    * * *

    Statistics

    *

    purport

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To convey, imply, or profess outwardly (often falsely).
    • He purports himself to be an international man of affairs.
  • To intend.
    • He purported to become an international man of affairs.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • import, intention or purpose
  • * 1748 ,
    • My practice, you say, refutes my doubts. But you mistake the purport of my question.
  • * 1843 , '', book 4, chapter I, ''Aristocracies
    • Sorrowful, phantasmal as this same Double Aristocracy of Teachers and Governors now looks, it is worth all men’s while to know that the purport of it is, and remains, noble and most real.
  • * 1939 ,
    • A child’s brain starts functioning at birth; and has, amongst its many infant convolutions, thousands of dormant atoms, into which God has put a mystic possibility for noticing an adult’s act, and figuring out its purport .
  • (obsolete) disguise; covering
  • * Spenser
    • For she her sex under that strange purport / Did use to hide.

    Anagrams

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