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censor

Pronunciation: /ˈsɛnsə/

Translate censor | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of censor

noun

  • 1an official who examines books, films, news, etc. that are about to be published and suppresses any parts that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security: the report was approved by the military censors the movie has been given an adults-only rating by film censors
  • Psychoanalysis an aspect of the superego which is said to prevent certain ideas and memories from emerging into consciousness.
    [from a mistranslation of German Zensur 'censorship', coined by Freud]
  • 2(in ancient Rome) either of two magistrates who held censuses and supervised public morals.

verb

[with object]
  • examine (a book, film, etc.) officially and suppress unacceptable parts of it: the report had been censored ‘in the national interest’ the letters she received were censored

Derivatives

censorial

Pronunciation: /-ˈsɔːrɪəl/

adjective

censorship

noun

Origin:

mid 16th century (in censor (sense 2 of the noun)): from Latin, from censere 'assess'

For an explanation of the difference between censor and censure, see censure (usage).

censor in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of censor in the US English dictionary

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