censor

Meaning

Noun

1. (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.
2. (Ancient-China, historical) 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.

Verb

1. (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).
2. (transitive) To partially obscure an observation.

Opposite of

decensor

Synonyms

inspector

expurgate

examine

ban

reprimand

reproof

faultfinder

examiner

inspect

rebuke

controller

corrector

critic

edit

forbid

judge

🧑‍⚖️

oversee

prober

review

reviewer

scanner

surveyor

ticket collector

bowdlerise

take a census

expurgator

remonstrator

audit

verify the news

criticiser

bowdleriser

adjuster

tally clerk

adjustor

auditor

black out

bowdlerize

bowdlerizer

censorship

check

checker

comptroller

Translations

censurer

zensieren

censureren

censurar

censurar

censurare

censor

censeur

censor

censore

caviarder

censurar

censora

Zensor

λογοκριτής

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈsɛnsə/

Etymology

Cognate with Middle English: sensour

Cognate with Sanskrit: शंसति

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.