spurious

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 31, 2009 is: spurious • \SPYUR-ee-us\  • adjective 1 : of illegitimate birth 2 : not genuine : false Examples: Reid’s claim that his grandfather was friends with Mickey Mantle sounded spurious to me, and I didn't believe it until he showed me a photo of his grandfather alongside the legendary slugger. Did you know? The classical Latin adjective "spurius" started out as a word meaning "illegitimate." In the days of ancient Rome, it was sometimes even used as a first name for illegitimate offspring (apparently with no dire effects). There was a certain Spurius Lucretius, for example, who was made temporary magistrate of Rome. In less tolerant times, 18th-century English writer Horace Walpole noted that Henry VII "came of the spurious stock of John of Gaunt." Today, we still use "spurious" to mean "illegitimate," but the more common meaning is "false" (a sense introduced to "spurious" in Late Latin). Originally our "false" sense emphasized improper origin, and it still often does ("a spurious signature"), but it can also simply mean "fake" or "not real." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.