Etymology: < Anglo-Norman purporte, Anglo-Norman and Middle French purport effect, tenor, sense (late 13th cent. or earlier, frequently in legal use) < purporter purport v. Sense 2, which is apparently not paralleled in French, apparently represents a semantic development within English. Compare post-classical Latin proportum meaning, substance of a document (frequently from 1230 in British sources; also as perportum , porportum , purportum ), verdict of an assize (13th cent. in British sources as perportum , purportum ). Compare later proport n.²In early use the stress apparently varied between the first and second syllables, and both types can be found in verse of the 16th cent.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French purporter (of a text) to have as its import, to signify, to mean, to state or show (a fact) (all first half of the 14th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman; end of the 13th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman in sense ‘(of a word) to mean, signify’; late 12th cent. in Old French as porporter in sense ‘to involve (as an obligation)’) < post-classical Latin proportare to carry or bear forth (8th cent. in past participle proportatus ), to stretch, extend (from 12th cent. in British sources; from 13th cent. in continental sources; also as porportare ), to have as its import (from c1200 in British sources; also as porportare ) < classical Latin pro- pro- prefix¹ + portāre port v.², perhaps as a remodelling of classical Latin praeportāre to carry in front, in post-classical Latin also to stretch, extend (in an undated source in Du Cange) < prae- pre- prefix + portāre . Compare proport v.In sense 2 (which is apparently not paralleled in either Latin or French) after purport n.; compare purpose v. N.E.D. (1909) also gives the pronunciation (pɒ̄·ɹpŏɹt) /ˈpɜːpət/.