censored
UK[ˈsɛnsəd]US[ˈsɛnsərd]
adj
Having had parts removed or hidden by an authority because they are considered unacceptable or a threat to security.
verb (past tense, past participle)
The action of suppressing or removing parts of a text, film, or other communication.
Morpheme Breakdown
cens
or
ed
cens
to assess
or
agent suffix
ed
past participle suffix
Etymology
The word originates from the Latin verb censēre, which carried the official duty of assessing citizens and their property for the Roman census, inherently involving judgment and classification. This evolved into the Latin noun censor, the title of the magistrate who performed this duty and later oversaw public morals. The English verb 'to censor' emerged from this official role of scrutiny and suppression of deemed undesirable material. The participial adjective 'censored' thus directly inherits the concept of something having been subjected to official judgment and the subsequent removal of content.
Analysis
Structure: cens (to assess) + or (agent suffix) + ed (past participle suffix)
- cens: From Latin censēre, meaning 'to assess, to give as an opinion, to judge'.
- or: A Latin agent suffix forming nouns, here incorporated into the verb 'censor'.
- ed: An English suffix forming the past tense and past participle of regular verbs, here used to create a participial adjective.
Examples
The censored version of the film removed all scenes of political protest.
Several pages of the classified document were heavily censored before its public release.
The journalist found that her reports from the conflict zone were being censored by the military.