censure

See also: censuré

English

WOTD – 30 September 2015

Etymology

From 1350–1400 Middle English censure, from Old French, from Latin censūra (“censor's office or assessment”), from censēre (“to consider, to assess, to value, to judge, to tax, etc.”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.ʃə/
  • (UK, now rare) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛns.jʊə/, /ˈsɛn.ʃ(j)ʊə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.ʃɚ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈsen.ʃə/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

Noun

censure (countable and uncountable, plural censures)

1. The act of blaming, criticizing, or condemning as wrong; reprehension.

   Synonyms: admonishment, dispraise, disapprobation; see also Thesaurus:condemnation, Thesaurus:criticism

   • 1776, Edward Gibbon, chapter I, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:

     Censure, which arraigns the public actions and the private motives of princes, has ascribed to envy, a conduct which might be attributed to the prudence and moderation of Hadrian.

   • 1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:

     Both the censure and the praise were merited.

2. Official reprimand.
   • 2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 9:45 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron‎^[1], archived from the original on 29 November 2024:

     After his actions were challenged by foreign governments and Parliament initially tried to put a stop to his action, Denman returned home and argued his case with enough force that, by 1848, the Royal Navy was handed active permission and encouragement to raze every last slave factory they could find to the ground, and full authority to stop any ship, of any flag, that was thought to be a slaver, with a guarantee with^[sic] no censure from the government.

3. A judicial or ecclesiastical sentence or reprimand; condemnatory judgment.

   Synonyms: discipline, punishment, sanction; see also Thesaurus:penalty

   • c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], “The Prologue Spoken at Court”, in Tho[mas] Heywood, editor, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC, , signature [A4], recto:

     He that hath past / So many Cenſures is novv come at laſt / To haue your princely Eares, grace you him; […]

   • 1679–1715, Gilbert Burnet, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of the Reformation of the Church of England., London: […] T[homas] H[odgkin] for Richard Chiswell, […]:

     [E]xcommunication […] being the chief ecclesiastical censure

4. (obsolete) A judgment (either favorable or unfavorable); an opinion.

   Synonyms: conclusion, idea, view; see also Thesaurus:judgement

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Take each man's cenſure, but reſerve thy judgment.

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱens- (0 c, 15 e)

Translations

the act of blaming, criticizing, or condemning as wrong; reprehension

• Armenian: պարսավանք (hy) (parsavankʻ), նախատինք (hy) (naxatinkʻ)

  Old Armenian: դսրով (dsrov)

• Bulgarian: неодобрение (bg) n (neodobrenie)
• Catalan: censura (ca) f
• Finnish: moittiminen (fi)
• Galician: censura (gl) f
• German: Tadel (de) m, Zurechtweisung f, Kritik (de) f, Ermahnung (de) f, Tadeln (de) m, Zurechtweisen (de) n, Kritisieren n, Ermahnen n
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ὄνειδος n (óneidos)

• Irish: cáineadh m
• Middle English: blame
• Russian: порица́ние (ru) n (poricánije), нарека́ние (ru) n (narekánije)
• Sanskrit: निन्दा (sa) f (nindā)
• Spanish: censura (es) f, reproche (es) m, reprehensión (es) f
• Tagalog: pula (tl)
• Tocharian B: nāki ?
• Ukrainian: осуд m (osud), засудження n (zasudžennja)
• Zazaki: sansur

an official reprimand

• Bulgarian: порицание (bg) n (poricanie)
• Finnish: moitteet pl
• German: Tadel (de) m, Verweis (de) m, Rüge (de) f
• Russian: вы́говор (ru) m (výgovor), замеча́ние (ru) n (zamečánije)
• Ukrainian: засудження n (zasudžennja)

judicial or ecclesiastical sentence or reprimand

• Finnish: tuomio (fi)

Verb

censure (third-person singular simple present censures, present participle censuring, simple past and past participle censured)

1. (transitive) To criticize harshly.

   Synonyms: castigate, excoriate, lay into; see also Thesaurus:criticize

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:

     I may be censured that nature thus gives way to loyalty.

   • 1946 January and February, T. S. Lascelles, “A Series of False Signals”, in Railway Magazine, page 43:

     The Woodwalton signalman, Rose, who was severely censured in Captain Tyler's report, behaved with great negligence.

   • 1982 March 18, Eric J. Cassel[l], “The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine”, in The New England Journal of Medicine, volume 306, number 11, →DOI, page 642:

     Cultural norms and social rules regulate whether someone can be among others or will be isolated, whether the sick will be considered foul or acceptable, and whether they are to be pitied or censured.

2. (transitive) To formally rebuke.

   Synonym: reprimand

   • 2023 June 21, Haley Talbot and Kristin Wilson, “House votes to censure Democratic congressman who led Trump investigations”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     The US House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff, a key lawmaker in Democrats’ congressional investigations into former President Donald Trump during his presidency.

3. (obsolete, transitive) To form or express a judgment in regard to; to estimate; to judge.

   Synonyms: dub, esteem, look upon; see also Thesaurus:deem

   • 1625, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Elder Brother. A Comedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii:

     Should I say more, you might well censure me a flatterer.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:criticize

Related terms

• censor
• censorial
• censorious
• censorship
• census

Translations

to criticize harshly — see also reprehend

• Arabic: لَام (ar) (lām), اِسْتِنْكَر (istinkar), اِسْتِهْجَن (istihjan)

  Egyptian Arabic: لام (laam), استنكر (estankar), استهجن (estahgen)

• Bulgarian: порицавам (bg) (poricavam)
• Catalan: censurar (ca)
• Czech: plísnit (cs), zavrhnout (cs), odsoudit (cs), vyplísnit
• Esperanto: admoni
• Finnish: tuomita (fi)
• Galician: censurar (gl)
• German: tadeln (de), monieren (de), kritisieren (de), verurteilen (de), verdammen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌵𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌽 (anaqiþan)
• Indonesian: mengecam (id)
• Māori: wenerau
• Spanish: reprochar (es), requintear (es) (Andes), censurar (es)
• Tagalog: pulaan
• Thai: โจมตี (th) (joom-dtii)

to formally rebuke

• Bulgarian: осъждам (bg) (osǎždam)
• Dutch: berispen (nl), op de vingers tikken
• German: tadeln (de), Verweis erteilen, Rüge erteilen, rügen (de), Tadel erteilen
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: εὐθύνω (euthúnō)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} décrier (fr), ^{(please verify)} censurer (fr)

Derived terms

• censurability
• censurable
• censureless
• censureship
• censurious
• miscensure
• recensure
• uncensuring

References

• “censure”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “censure”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "censure" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Anagrams

• encurse

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃.syʁ/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin cēnsūra.

Noun

censure f (plural censures)

1. censorship
2. (politics) ellipsis of motion de censure (“confidence motion”)
   • 2025 October 3, Corentin Lesueur, Clément Guillou, “Marine Le Pen menace de censurer Sébastien Lecornu dès la déclaration de politique générale”, in Le Monde‎^[3]:

     A rebours de ses élus et de ses proches, qui réfutaient, depuis la rentrée, toute volonté d’« accélérer le calendrier » d’une probable censure, la députée du Pas-de-Calais menace désormais, après une énième évolution stratégique, de régler le sort du Sébastien Lecornu dès son discours devant l’Assemblée nationale, attendu le 7 octobre.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• motion de censure

Descendants

• → Persian: سانسور (sânsur)
• → Turkish: sansür

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

censure

1. inflection of censurer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “censure”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• cénures

Galician

Verb

censure

1. inflection of censurar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃenˈsu.re/
• Rhymes: -ure
• Hyphenation: cen‧sù‧re

Noun

censure f

1. plural of censura

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kẽːˈsuː.rɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃenˈsuː.re]

Participle

cēnsūre

1. vocative masculine singular of cēnsūrus

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsu.ɾi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsu.ɾi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsu.ɾe/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sẽˈsu.ɾɨ/

• Hyphenation: cen‧su‧re

Verb

censure

1. inflection of censurar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θenˈsuɾe/ [θẽnˈsu.ɾe] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /senˈsuɾe/ [sẽnˈsu.ɾe] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -uɾe
• Syllabification: cen‧su‧re

Verb

censure

1. inflection of censurar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative