The adjective spurious comes from Latin, specifically from the word spurius. As for its meaning, it has two meanings. On the one hand, it refers to something or someone that from its origin is found degenerate for some reason. On the other hand, it is all that is misleading, wicked, inauthentic or false in some sense. In any of its uses, the term spurious has a derogatory connotation.
It should be noted that this is one of those words that are usually misspelled and appears as spurious, a non-existent word.
Spurious son
Currently the concept of illegitimate child or extramarital child is used. In other times there was talk of a bastard son or a spurious son. In the latter case, it is a question of those children who were born outside the legal marriage of their parents or it is a child whose father is unknown. In this sense, it must be remembered that the ancient Romans used the name Sine Pater (without father) to refer to all those children of unknown parents.
The use of the word in different contexts of language
The ideas that are argued from false, manipulated or adulterated data are spurious and, consequently, cannot be considered as true.
It is said that someone utters spurious words when he tells falsehoods with the intention of manipulating others.
The word spurious can be used as an insult directed at someone who lies, manipulates and deceives.
If someone pretends to be what he is not, he has a spurious attitude, because it is a false and lying behavior.
In the terminology of statistics, there is a spurious relationship and it consists in the fact that two mathematical data or events do not maintain any logical connection.
A disused cultism
In everyday language we say that something is false, corrupt or wrong. We could use the word spurious, but in practice it is only used in cultured or very formal language contexts.
Most of the cultisms are words that come from Greek or Latin, but that with the passage of time have not evolved or have incorporated new meanings. Espurio is a clear example in this regard.
Other cultisms in disuse are the following: atibar (from the Latin stipare and which means to fill an excavation), coramvobis (which comes from the Latin Coram Vobis and which means in our presence) or entombos (it is a contraction of the Latin between both and which is equivalent to the adjective both).
Photo: Fotolia - Alexander Pokusay
