English
censure
Censure comes from Latin censūra ‘censor's office or assessment’, and goes back to censeō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcenseōas censēre‘to consider, to assess, to value, to judge, to tax, etc’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcensūra‘censor's office or assessment’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500censure
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1589–1590same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcenseōas censēre‘to consider, to assess, to value, to judge, to tax, etc’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcensūra‘censor's office or assessment’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500censure
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1589–1590same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1589–1590, Christopher Marlowe, The Prologue Spoken at Court: “He that hath past / So many Cenſures is…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- ‘to announce’
charm, cosmic, cosmetic, cosmos, cosmetology, 13 more
through Latin censeō ‘to consider, to assess, to value, to judge, to…’
Today it means
noun The act of blaming, criticizing, or condemning as wrong; reprehension.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin censeō / censure