purport

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”).

verb

1. To convey, imply, or profess (often falsely or inaccurately).
   He purports himself to be an international man of affairs.
   The intermediate station seen here, Llanbister Road, is 5 hilly miles by road from the town it purports to serve. 1962 August, “More W.R. services in jeopardy”, in Modern Railways, page 82, photo caption
2. (construed with to) To intend.
   He purported to become an international man of affairs.

noun

1. import, intention or purpose
   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. 1939, Ernest Vincent Wright, Gadsby
2. (obsolete) disguise; covering