English
censor
Censor comes from Latin cēnsor ‘magistrate’, and goes back to cēnseō ‘to give an opinion, judge’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēnseō‘to give an opinion, judge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēnsor‘magistrate’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1608–1609censor
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēnseō‘to give an opinion, judge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēnsor‘magistrate’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1608–1609censor
Earliest quotation: c. 1608–1609, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus: “And Nobly nam'd, ſo twice being Cenſor, / Was…”
The story
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 (suffix forming masculine agent nouns)). The English word is cognate with Late Middle English sensour, Proto-Iranian *cánhati (‘to declare; to explain’), Sanskrit शंसति (śaṃsati, “to declare”).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- ‘to announce, proclaim’
charm, cosmic, cosmetic, cosmos, cosmetology, 12 more
through Latin cēnseō ‘to give an opinion, judge’
Today it means
noun One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and the 6th century C.E.) was a high judge of public behaviour and morality.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin cēnseō / censor