censor
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: censôr
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɛnsə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɛnsɚ/
Audio (General American): (file) - Homophones: censer, sensor
- Rhymes: -ɛnsə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: cens‧or
Etymology 1
The noun is borrowed from Latin cēnsor (“magistrate; critic”), from cēnseō (“to give an opinion, judge; to assess, reckon; to decree, determine”)[1][2] + -sor (variant of -tor (suffix forming masculine agent nouns)). Cēnseō is derived from Proto-Italic *kensēō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- (“to announce, proclaim; to put in order”). The English word is cognate with Late Middle English sensour, Proto-Iranian *cánhati (“to declare; to explain”), Sanskrit शंसति (śaṃsati, “to declare”).
The verb is derived from the noun.[3]
Noun
censor (plural censors)
- (Ancient Rome, historical) One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and the 6th century C.E.) was a high judge of public behaviour and morality.
- Synonyms: censorian, (both obsolete) censurer
- The Ancient Roman censors were part of the cursus honorum, a series of public offices held during a political career, like consuls and praetors.
- c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 14, column 1:
- And Nobly nam'd, ſo twice being Cenſor, / Was his great Anceſtor.
- 1685, William Howel[l], “The History of the Reformation of Religion by Constantine”, in An Institution of General History, or The History of Ecclesiastical Affairs of the World. […], London: […] Miles Flesher, →OCLC, paragraph 17, page 7:
- Neither [the Segetes Lustrantur and the Oves Lustrantur] are in this place, to be underſtood the Luſtra, which were wont to be Celebrated at Rome by the Cenſors, after the Cenſus of Citizens was made by a Sacrifice of the Suovetaurilia; for they had ceaſed long ago, as appeareth by what Cenſorinus writeth in his Book de Die Natali; at which time the Office of Cenſors also ceaſed, which ſome endeavoured, though in vain, to re-eſtabliſh.
- 1696, Basil Kennett, “Of the Censors”, in Romæ Antiquæ Notitia: Or, The Antiquities of Rome. […], London: […] A. Swall and T. Child, […], →OCLC, part II, book III (Of the Civil Government of the Romans), pages 110–111:
- [page 110] [Justus] Lipſius divides the Duty of the Cenſors into two Heads; the Survey of the People, and the Cenſure of Manners. […] With respect to the latter part of their Office, they had the power to puniſh an Immorality in any Perſon, of what Order ſoever. […] [page 111] 'Tis very remarkable, that if one of the Cenſors died, no body was ſubſtituted in his room 'till the next Luſtrum, and his Partner was oblig'd to quit his Office; becauſe the Death of a Cenſor happen'd juſt before the ſacking of Rome by the Gauls, and was ever after accounted highly ominous and unfortunate.
- 1788, Edward Gibbon, chapter XLIX, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume V, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, pages 168–169:
- At the head of his victorious legions, in his reign over the ſea and land, from the Nile and Euphrates to the Atlantic ocean, Auguſtus proclaimed himſelf the ſervant of the ſtate and the equal of his fellow-citizens. The conqueror of Rome and her provinces aſſumed the popular and legal form of a cenſor, a conſul, and a tribune.
- 1876, William Ramsay, “Magistrates of the Regal and Republican Periods and under the Early Emperors”, in A Manual of Roman Antiquities, 10th edition, London: Charles Griffin and Company […], →OCLC, page 165:
- The Censors were always two in number, and were originally chosen from the Patricians exclusively. In B.C. 351, we find for the first time a Plebeian Censor, G[aius] Marcius Rutilus. In B.C. 339, a Lex Publilia was passed by Q[uintus] Publilius Philo when Dictator, enacting that at least one of the Censors must be a Plebeian.
- (Ancient China, historical) A high-ranking official who was responsible for the supervision of subordinate government officials.
- An official responsible for the removal or suppression of objectionable material (for example, if obscene or likely to incite violence) or sensitive content in books, films, correspondence, and other media.
- Synonym: (obsolete) censurer
- The headmaster was an even stricter censor of his boarding pupils’ correspondence than the enemy censors had been of his own when the country was occupied.
- 1917, Sapper [pseudonym; Herman Cyril McNeile], “The Seed”, in No Man’s Land, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, part 3 (Seed Time), page 260:
- There being a censor of public morals I will refrain from giving that worthy warrior's reply when he had digested this astounding piece of information; it is sufficient to say that it did not encourage further conversation, nor did it soothe our hero's nerves.
- (education) A college or university official whose duties vary depending on the institution.
- 1691, [Anthony Wood], “THEOPHILUS HIGGONS”, in Athenæ Oxonienses. An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops who have had Their Education in the Most Ancient and Famous University of Oxford from the Fifteenth Year of King Henry the Seventh, Dom. 1500, to the End of the Year 1690. […], volume II (Completing the Whole Work), London: […] Tho[mas] Bennet […], →OCLC, column 154:
- During his [Theophilus Higgons's] reſidence in the ſaid houſe [Christ Church, Oxford], he was eſteemed a Perſon to be much ſtained with Puritaniſme, and to be violent againſt all ſuch that were ſuſpected to favour the Romiſh See. When he was Cenſor alſo, he was ſo zealous as to ſaw down a harmleſs maypole ſtanding within the precincts of the ſaid houſe, becauſe forſooth he thought it came out of a Romiſh Foreſt.
- (obsolete) One who censures or condemns.
- Synonym: censurer
- 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter X, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 661:
- Why that character [of the English Revolution] was so peculiar is sufficiently obvious, and yet seems not to have been always understood either by eulogists or by censors.
- (computing) An algorithm that approves or rejects something on grounds of taste or morality etc.
- I tried using a dirty word as my user name for the online game, but the censor rejected it.
Usage notes
Not to be confused with censer (“container for burning incense; person who perfumes with incense”) or censure (“act of condemning as wrong; official reprimand”).
Alternative forms
- censour (obsolete)
Derived terms
Related terms
- censorial
- censorian
- censorical (obsolete, rare)
- censorious
- censoriously
- censoriousness
Translations
Ancient Roman magistrate
|
official responsible for removal of objectionable material or sensitive content
|
one who condemns or censors
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
censor (third-person singular simple present censors, present participle censoring, simple past and past participle censored)
- (transitive) To review for, and if necessary to remove or suppress, content from books, films, correspondence, and other media which is regarded as objectionable (for example, obscene, likely to incite violence, or sensitive).
- Synonyms: bowdlerize, expurgate, expunge, redact
- Antonym: decensor
- The people responsible for censoring films have seen some startling things in their time.
- Occupying powers typically censor anything reeking of resistance
- 1909, Arthur Stringer, “The Movement in Retreat”, in The Gun-runner, New York, N.Y.: B. W. Dodge & Company, →OCLC, page 134:
- Ganley is in hourly dread of every message that comes into your wireless-room. He insists on censoring anything that might betray him.
Derived terms
Translations
to review for, and if necessary to remove or suppress, objectionable content
|
Etymology 2
From an incorrect translation of German Zensur (“censorship”).[1]
Noun
censor (plural censors)
- (psychology) A hypothetical subconscious agency which filters unacceptable thought before it reaches the conscious mind.
Translations
References
- “censor, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1889. - “censor, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “censor, v.”, in OED Online, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1889; “censor, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
censorship on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - Roman censor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- censor (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “censor”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “censor”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
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