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 censere (“to tax, assess, value, judge, consider, etc.”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.sjə/, /ˈsɛn.ʃə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.ʃɚ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

censure (countable and uncountable, plural censures)

1. The act of blaming, criticizing, or condemning as wrong; reprehension.
   • 1856 December​, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson [from the Encyclopædia Britannica]”, 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 30956848:

     Both the censure and the praise were merited.

2. An official reprimand.
3. Judicial or ecclesiastical sentence or reprimand; condemnatory judgment.
   • 1679-1715, Gilbert Burnet, History of the Reformation

     excommunication […] being the chief ecclesiastical censure

4. (obsolete) Judgment either favorable or unfavorable; opinion.
   • c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene 3]:

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

Related terms

► English terms derived from the PIE root *ḱens-‎ (0 c, 13 e)

Translations

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

• Armenian: պարսավանք (hy) (parsavankʿ), նախատինք (hy) (naxatinkʿ)

  Old Armenian: դսրով (dsrov)

• Bulgarian: неодобрение (bg) n (neodobrenie)
• Catalan: censura (ca) f
• Finnish: moittiminen (fi)
• Galician: censura (gl)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ὄνειδος n (óneidos)

• Middle English: blame
• Russian: порица́ние (ru) n (poricánije), нарека́ние (ru) n (narekánije)
• Sanskrit: निन्दा (sa) f (nindā)
• Spanish: censura (es) f
• Tagalog: pula (tl)
• Tocharian B: nāki

an official reprimand

• Bulgarian: порицание (bg) n (poricanie)
• Finnish: moitteet pl

• Russian: вы́говор (ru) m (výgovor), замеча́ние (ru) n (zamečánije)

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. To criticize harshly.

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene v]:

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

2. To formally rebuke.
3. (obsolete) To form or express a judgment in regard to; to estimate; to judge.
   • 1625, John Fletcher; Philip Massinger, “The Elder Brother. A Comedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, OCLC 3083972, Act 1, scene 2:

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

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:reprehend

Translations

to criticize harshly

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

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

• Bulgarian: порицавам (bg) (poricavam)
• Catalan: censurar (ca)

• Esperanto: admoni
• Finnish: tuomita (fi)
• Galician: censurar (gl)
• Indonesian: mengecam (id)
• Maori: wenerau
• Tagalog: pulaan

to formally rebuke

• Bulgarian: осъждам (bg) (osǎždam)
• Greek:

  Ancient: εὐθύνω (euthúnō)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

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

Related terms

• censor
• censorial
• censorious
• censorship
• census

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

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French

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃.syʁ/

Noun

censure f (plural censures)

1. censorship

Verb

censure

1. first-person singular present indicative of censurer
2. third-person singular present indicative of censurer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of censurer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of censurer
5. second-person singular imperative of censurer

Further reading

• “censure” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• cénures

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Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ure

Noun

censure f

1. plural of censura

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Latin

Participle

cēnsūre

1. vocative masculine singular of cēnsūrus

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Portuguese

Verb

censure

1. First-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of censurar
2. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você^?) present subjunctive of censurar
3. Third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of censurar
4. Third-person singular (você) negative imperative of censurar

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Spanish

Verb

censure

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of censurar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of censurar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of censurar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of censurar.