censorship

UK/ˈsɛnsəʃɪp/US/ˈsɛnsɚʃɪp/

nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #8,032 of 15,258leans written

Censorship is power deciding what the public may not read, see or say. State censorship, wartime censorship, accusations of censorship.

It properly means a power with force behind it, which is why the word is disputed: a newspaper choosing not to print something is editing, and a government forbidding it is censorship. Self-censorship is what people do to themselves in anticipation.

Definitions of censorship

1nouncensorshipPower deciding what the public may not read, see or say.B2+
“Under the military government, strict censorship meant newspapers could not criticise the army.”

censorship is a control.

Where it comes from

Proto-Indo-European
*ḱens- — to announce, proclaim; to put in order
Latin
cēnsor — magistrate; critic
English
censor
English, today
censorship

Built from

cēnseō · Latin — to give an opinion, judge; to assess, reckon; to decree, determine

From censor + -ship. censor 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). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱens- (“to announce, proclaim; to put in order”). The English word is cognate with Late Middle English sensour, ira-pro cánhati (“to declare; to explain”), Sanskrit शंसति (“to declare”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in News & Communication

Practise this word

censorship in the wild

Internet censorship is one of the forms of censorship, the suppression of speech, public communication and other information.
Internet censorship in China
As required by the government, major Internet platforms in China have established elaborate self-censorship mechanisms.
Internet censorship in China
Self-censorship is commonly exhibited by film producers, directors, publishers, journalists, musicians, and social media personalities.
Self-censorship
Film censorship is the censorship of motion pictures, either through the excising of certain frames or scenes, or outright banning of films in their entirety.
Film censorship
Political censorship is the censorship of political opinions in violation of freedom of speech, freedom of the press or freedom of assembly.
Political censorship

1 / 3

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the cēnsor family

censorship censor

censorship — used about once every 3,111 pages · #8,032 · point at the bar for the others

censorship board

← Vocabulary