A-pŏc'ry-phă, n. pl.

n. pl. [Lat. apocryphus, Gr. ἀπόκρυφος, hidden, spurious, from ἀποκρύπτειν, to hide, from ἀπό, from, and κρύπτειν, to hide.] Books whose authenticity, as inspired writings, is not admitted, and which are therefore not considered a part of the sacred canon of the Scripture.

☞ In Matthew's translation of the Bible, published in 1537, the deuterocanonical books were separated from the others, and prefaced with the words, “The volume of the books called Hagiographa.” In Cranmer's Bible, published in 1539, the same words were continued; but in the edition of 1549, the word Hagiographa was changed into Apocrypha, which passed through the succeeding editions into King James's Bible. Kitto.—The Jewish apocryphal books are received as canonical by the Roman Catholic church, but not by Protestants.