censor

¹cen·sor

noun \ˈsen(t)-sər\

Definition of CENSOR

1

: a person who supervises conduct and morals: as

a : an official who examines materials (as publications or films) for objectionable matter

b : an official (as in time of war) who reads communications (as letters) and deletes material considered sensitive or harmful

2

: one of two magistrates of early Rome acting as census takers, assessors, and inspectors of morals and conduct

3

: a hypothetical psychic agency that represses unacceptable notions before they reach consciousness

— cen·so·ri·al \sen-ˈsȯr-ē-əl\ adjective

Examples of CENSOR

1. Government censors deleted all references to the protest.

Origin of CENSOR

Latin, Roman magistrate, from censēre to give as one's opinion, assess; perhaps akin to Sanskrit śaṁsati he praises

First Known Use: 1526

Other Occult Terms

augury, invocation, lucidity, metempsychosis, mojo, numinous, preternatural, weird, wraith

²censor

transitive verb

cen·soredcen·sor·ing \ˈsen(t)-sə-riŋ, ˈsen(t)s-riŋ\

Definition of CENSOR

: to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable <censor the news>; also : to suppress or delete as objectionable <censor out indecent passages>

Examples of CENSOR

1. The station censored her speech before broadcasting it.
2. His report was heavily censored.

First Known Use of CENSOR

1882

Related to CENSOR

Synonyms

bowdlerize, clean (up), expurgate, launder, red-pencil

Related Words

cleanse, purge, purify; abbreviate, blue-pencil, edit, shorten; bleep, blip, cut (out), delete, excise, expunge, gut, x (out); black out, repress, silence, suppress; censure, condemn, denounce; examine, review, screen, scrutinize

Near Antonyms

approve, authorize, sanction

Rhymes with CENSOR

fencer, spencer

cen·sor

noun \ˈsen(t)-sər\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of CENSOR

: a hypothetical psychic agency that represses unacceptable notions before they reach consciousness

—cen·so·ri·al \sen-ˈsōr-ē-əl, -ˈsȯr-\ adjective

censor

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

In ancient eastern Asia, a government official whose primary duty was to scrutinize the conduct of officials and rulers. During the Qin (221–206 BC) and Han (206 BC–AD 220) dynasties, the censor's function was to criticize the emperor's acts, but in later periods the censorate was expanded and became an instrument for imperial control of the bureaucracy. Censors checked important documents, supervised construction projects, reviewed judicial proceedings, kept watch over state property, and looked for cases of subversion and corruption.