pseudepigrapha

Noun

pseudepigrapha pl (normally plural, singular pseudepigraphon or pseudepigraph)

1. (plural, plural-normally) Writings falsely ascribed to famous persons (historical or mythical) to lend them greater legitimacy, typically composed many centuries after the ostensible author's death.
   • The Jewish pseudepigrapha bear the names of Old Testament patriarchs, kings, or prophets.1906, Henry Barclay Swete, “Authorship”, in The Apocalypse of St. John: the Greek text with introd., notes and indices, Macmillan, page clxx
   • Now, the myth theory, as it happens, is neither made nor marred by any decision as to the spuriousness of the Pauline letters. The crucial point is that, whether early or late—and the dating of them as pseudepigrapha is a difficult matter—the cardinal epistles have been interpolated.1916, J. M. Robertson, “The Pauline Problem”, in The Historical Jesus: A Survey of Positions