censure

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.”).

• (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/

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censure (countable and uncountable, plural censures)

1. The act of blaming, criticizing, or condemning as wrong; reprehension.
   • 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. An official reprimand.
3. Judicial or ecclesiastical sentence or reprimand; condemnatory judgment.
   • 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) Judgment either favorable or unfavorable; opinion.
   • 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.

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 […] (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.

   • {{quote-journal|en|date=1982-03-18|author=w:[[Eric Cassell|Eric J. Cassel[l]]]|title=The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine|journal=w:The New England Journal of Medicine|volume=306|issue=11|doi=10.1056/NEJM198203183061104|page=642|passage=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. 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, Act I, scene ii:

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

• See also Thesaurus:reprehend

• “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.

• encurse

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃.syʁ/

Borrowed from Latin cēnsūra.

censure f (plural censures)

1. censorship

• motion de censure

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

censure

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

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

• cénures

censure

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

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

censure f

1. plural of censura

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kenˈsuː.re/, [kẽːˈs̠uːrɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃenˈsu.re/, [t͡ʃenˈsuːre]

cēnsūre

1. vocative masculine singular of cēnsūrus

• Hyphenation: cen‧su‧re

censure

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

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

censure

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