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/

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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 1 part ii”, 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 [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:

     Both the censure and the praise were merited.

2. An official reprimand.
3. Judicial or ecclesiastical sentence or reprimand; condemnatory judgment.
   • c. 1589–1590, Christopher Marlo[we], Tho[mas] Heywood, editor, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Ievv of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act PROLOGUE SPOKEN AT COURT:

     He that hath past
     So many censures is now come at last
     To have your princely ears […]

   • 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, […]:

     excommunication […] 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.

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/

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

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

censure f

1. plural of censura

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kenˈsuː.re/, [kẽːˈs̠uːrɛ]
• (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