censor

Meaning

1. 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.
2. A high-ranking official who was responsible for the supervision of subordinate government officials.
3. 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.
4. A college or university official whose duties vary depending on the institution.
5. (obsolete) One who censures or condemns.
6. An algorithm that approves or rejects something on grounds of taste or morality etc.

inspector

take a census

verify the news

tally clerk

Frequency

Hyphenated as

cens‧or

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈsɛnsə/

Cognate with Middle English

Cognate with Sanskrit

In summary

The noun is borrowed from Latin cēnsor (“magistrate; critic”), from cēnseō (“to give an opinion, judge; to assess, reckon; to decree, determine”) + -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.

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