censorship

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɛnsəʃɪp/ (UK); /ˈsɛnsɚʃɪp/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is from English censor + -ship.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The office or function of a censor: 1591 in the OED, the 1590s in Etymonline, about 1591 in Merriam-Webster.^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The office of a Roman censor is from 1600.^[3] The action of censoring is from 1824,^[2] and censorship of the press specifically from 1827.^[3] In psychology, the mind's suppression of disturbing thoughts before they reach consciousness is from 1924.^[3][5]

Timeline

• 1591 – the office of a censor.^[3]
• 1600 – the Roman censorship.^[3]
• 1824 – the act of censoring.^[2]
• 1827 – press censorship.^[3]
• 1924 – censorship in psychology.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The suppression or control of books, films, news or other material considered objectionable or dangerous.
2. The office of a Roman censor.
3. (psychoanalysis) The mind's regulation of unconscious impulses before they reach consciousness.

Word family

• anticensorship
• precensorship
• procensorship
• self-censorship

Related words

• censor
• censure
• census

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin