The adjective spurious , which comes from the Latin spurius , is used to describe that which degenerates from its nature or its origin : that is, that does not correspond to its original state or its ancestors.
A spurious child , in this brand, is the offspring of a non-marital relationship or the illegitimate child of a father, whether unknown or known. Although the definition varies according to the legislation, it can be said that the individual whose mother is widowed or single at the time of his birth and whose father is not recorded, is a spurious child. A spurious child is also the descendant of a couple who, at the time of conception and birth, could not be married.
In ancient times, spurious children were discriminated against and had no right to inheritance . Currently, however, spurious children and legitimate children are in the same situation before the law.
This leads us to think about the instability by which morality is characterized: throughout the history of our species, the concepts of good and evil, right and wrong, decent and indecent have changed in numerous times, in various directions, and we have not yet reached a balance, perhaps because it is not possible. Certain things that in the past were considered unacceptable, today are taken as absolutely normal, and the same thing happens in the opposite sense.
The idea of spurious is also used to refer to what is false or fraudulent . When something is adulterated or is a fake or imitation, it can be classified as spurious.
In this sense, the notion of spurious is usually used with respect to what is degenerate (as a deviation from the essence of that which generated it or as that which has an illegitimate origin). Suppose that a dictator who came to power through a coup d'état announces the convocation of a constituent assembly. Opponents may claim that this is a “spurious process,” since only a constitutional president has the power to call such an assembly.
A spurious statement is not legitimate but fake, it is created with the aim of convincing the interlocutor of something that is not true, that is not genuine. This can be applied in the field of law to classify certain accusations that lack veracity, although they are not always deliberate lies but may be due to an alteration of mood at the time of issuing them.
If we think of a person who accuses his partner of having physically and psychologically attacked him with false arguments, the authorities must weigh all the evidence to find the reason for such a lie. One of the possibilities is that the relationship was in a moment of great deterioration, with daily arguments and on the verge of breakdown, and that this wear and tear has clouded the reason of the supposed victim. In a case like this we speak of "spurious spirit " or "spurious motive."
Regarding the use of the word espurio , it is not very common in everyday speech, although it does appear in various journalistic texts and literary works. One of the problems that this entails is the deformation to spurious , a word that does not exist. In this case, we are far from a vulgar error, since it arises with the intention of achieving correction in speech: this is part of hypercorrection or ultracorrection , a phenomenon that occurs when the speaker believes he is faced with an incorrect form and he modifies it with his knowledge of the language to, in his opinion, correct it.