censor
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: computing
education
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
statistics
Etymology: 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)). 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.
Inflected forms:
form: censors
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: censour
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: censors
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: censoring
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: censored
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: censored
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: Ancient-Rome
historical
examples: The Ancient Roman censors were part of the cursus honorum, a series of public offices held during a political career, like consuls and praetors.
And Nobly nam'd, ſo twice being Cenſor, / Was his great Anceſtor.
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.
[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.
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.
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.
gloss: A high-ranking official who was responsible for the supervision of subordinate government officials.
pos: noun
tags: Ancient-China
historical
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
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.
gloss: A college or university official whose duties vary depending on the institution.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
gloss: One who censures or condemns.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
examples: 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.
gloss: An algorithm that approves or rejects something on grounds of taste or morality etc.
pos: noun
examples: I tried using a dirty word as my user name for the online game, but the censor rejected it.
gloss: 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).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The people responsible for censoring films have seen some startling things in their time.
Occupying powers typically censor anything reeking of resistance
Ganley is in hourly dread of every message that comes into your wireless-room. He insists on censoring anything that might betray him.
gloss: To partially obscure an observation.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Early dropout is one cause of right-censoring.
Related words: censorial
censorian
censorical
censorious
censoriously
censoriousness
Derived words: anticensor
bleep censor
censorable
censorate
censoress
censorism
censorist
censorize
censorless
censor morum
censorship
CensorStation
censorware
cybercensor
censorability
censoree
censoring
precensor
recensor
self-censor
uncensor
Translations: