purport
/pəˈpɔːt/
"purport" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“purport” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #45,020 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #45,020
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To convey, imply, or profess (often falsely or inaccurately).
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | purport |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /pəˈpɔːt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #45,020 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “purport” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for purport is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pəˈpɔːt/. Corpus data places it at rank #45,020 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for purport, with forms such as "ppurport", "pruport", and "puprort". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "purpose", "purported", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English purporten, from Anglo-Norman purporter and Old French porporter (“convey, contain, carry”), from pur-, from Latin pro (“forth”) + Old French porter (“carry”), from Latin portō (“carry”). The correct English form is purport, spelled P-U-R-P-O-R-T.
Definition
- 1To convey, imply, or profess (often falsely or inaccurately).
- 2To intend.
Etymology
From Middle English purporten, from Anglo-Norman purporter and Old French porporter (“convey, contain, carry”), from pur-, from Latin pro (“forth”) + Old French porter (“carry”), from Latin portō (“carry”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ppurport,pruport,puprort,puroprt,purporrt,purportt,purpotr,purpport,purprot,purrport,uprport
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of purport - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "purport"?
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Using “purport”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-U-R-P-O-R-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pəˈpɔːt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “purpose” - see the side-by-side comparison. purport vs purpose
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.