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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Apocrypha

Apocrypha \A*poc"ry*pha\, n. pl., but often used as sing. with pl. Apocryphas. [L. apocryphus apocryphal, Gr. ? hidden, spurious, fr. ? to hide; ? from + ? to hide.]

  1. Something, as a writing, that is of doubtful authorship or authority; -- formerly used also adjectively. [Obs.]
    --Locke.

  2. Specif.: Certain writings which are received by some Christians as an authentic part of the Holy Scriptures, but are rejected by others.

    Note: Fourteen such writings, or books, formed part of the Septuagint, but not of the Hebrew canon recognized by the Jews of Palestine. The Council of Trent included all but three of these in the canon of inspired books having equal authority. The German and English Reformers grouped them in their Bibles under the title Apocrypha, as not having dogmatic authority, but being profitable for instruction. The Apocrypha is now commonly ?mitted from the King James's Bible.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Apocrypha

late 14c., neuter Late Latin apocryphus "secret, not approved for public reading," from Greek apokryphos "hidden; obscure," thus "(books) of unknown authorship" (especially those included in the Septuagint and Vulgate but not originally written in Hebrew and not counted as genuine by the Jews), from apo- "away" (see apo-) + kryptein "to hide" (see crypt). Properly plural (the single would be Apocryphon or apocryphum), but commonly treated as a collective singular.

Wiktionary
apocrypha

n. (context obsolete English) Something, as a writing, that is of doubtful authorship or authority (qualifier: formerly also used attributively).

Wikipedia
Apocrypha

Apocrypha are works, usually written works, that are of unknown authorship, or of doubtful authenticity, or spurious, or not considered to be within a particular canon. The word is properly treated as a plural, but in common usage is often singular. In the context of the Jewish and Christian Bibles, where most texts are of unknown authorship, Apocrypha usually refers to a set of texts included in the Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Bible.

The word's origin is the Medieval Latin adjective apocryphus, "secret, or non-canonical", from the Greek adjective (apokryphos), "obscure", from the verb (apokryptein), "to hide away".

Apocrypha (fiction)

In the context of fiction, apocrypha includes those fictional stories that do not belong within a fictional universe's canon, yet still have some authority relating to that fictional universe. The boundaries between canon and apocrypha can often be blurred.

The word "Apocrypha" is sometimes used to describe works set in a fictional universe that may not belong in the canon.

These may include tie-in merchandise such as video games, novels and comics, which are sometimes termed ' Expanded Universes'.

Often these materials might contradict the continuity that has already been established by 'canon'. Even when no such contradictions occur, such materials may still be deemed apocrypha possibly because they might have been produced largely independently of the creator of the fictional universe. For example, Joss Whedon, creator of the Buffyverse, has little involvement with the Buffyverse novels and has never read an entire novel, let alone closely overseen or edited one.

The Star Trek canon consists of the various Star Trek television series and movies. All the other Star Trek stories which have been licensed by Paramount (novels, comics..) are not part of canon, they are instead apocrypha. Fan fiction is classified as fanon.

Apocrypha (The X-Files)

"Apocrypha" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on . It was directed by Kim Manners, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Apocrypha" included appearances by John Neville, Don S. Williams and Brendan Beiser. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Apocrypha" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8, being watched by 16.71 million people in its initial broadcast.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder returns from Hong Kong, having found rogue agent Alex Krycek ( Nicholas Lea) while investigating a mysterious mind-altering black oil. Meanwhile, Scully pursues the man who she believes killed her sister. "Apocrypha" is the second part of a two-part episode, continuing the plot from the previous episode, " Piper Maru".

"Apocrypha" was the first mythology-centered episode to be directed by Manners, and made use of a mixture of physical and digital effects to create the episode's antagonistic black oil. The episode's sets were also augmented with digital effects, amplifying what could be constructed within the given budget.

Usage examples of "apocrypha".

With a charging army of twenty-four troops, the cardinal blazed west over the Rhone River bridge, away from Avignon, toward the Apocrypha Archive and toward a wicked thunderhead swallowing up the horizon like some advancing black plague.

Council of the Apocrypha - and with his only superior, the pontiff himself, who, for better or worse, remained ignorant of all matters concerning the Council.

As a cardinal, Pierre Roger had argued fiercely against any proposition to which, in his eyes, stood to strengthen the position of the Council of the Apocrypha - a position Roger had always felt undermined the authority of the College of Cardinals.

And should it come to this, he was prepared to justify such an act of insubordination by doing something that had never been done before in the history of the Apocrypha Council - by removing the evidence from the archive and presenting it directly to Clement.

The Apocrypha Archive held all the existing secrets of the Church, and held it close.

It listed each pontiff and councilman ever to serve the Apocrypha, and contained the Council bylaws as well.

He said he had been sent by His Holiness to inspect Apocrypha records.

Have you ever known the purpose behind the Council of the Apocrypha, or what is held in its archive?

In contrast, the Council of the Apocrypha was a small, veiled and purposefully unrecorded papal body wielding an authority that easily rivaled that of the College, the cardinals of the Apocrypha suffered no dominion but that of God and were accountable only to His chosen representative on earth - the Holy Father.

Its Pope, its College of Cardinals and its Apocrypha Cardinals were all fair game.

Such knowledge rests in the archives of the Apocrypha, in what they call the Naramsin translations.

Chateau Mallow belonged to the Council of the Apocrypha, the residence of Cardinals Basiliste and Lean.

The evidence of a vile murder disappeared into the French countryside, and its perpetrator, Cardinal Jean-Francois Blasi, now held the key to the secrets of the Council of the Apocrypha and consequently, their two closely-guarded monasteries: des Gardiens and del Cancello.

Church of the Apocrypha about twenty miles southwest of Ukiah, off in the woods.

Church of the Apocrypha to locate this Brother Titus and find out if he is coincidence or part of it somehow.