Expurgates

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Eliminates parts of a text deemed offensive or inappropriate to make it more acceptable
2. Cleans a written work by deleting or censoring content considered unsuitable or objectionable
3. Removes sensitive or objectionable sections from documents or literature to avoid causing offense

Etymology: "Expurgates" is the third-person singular form of "expurgate," so the story belongs to the verb itself. The base word comes from Latin "expurgātus," the past participle of "expurgō," which meant "purge," "cleanse," or "purify." Its roots are literal: "ex-" (out) plus "purgō" (to cleanse), the same stem that gave English "purge" and "purgatory." The sense of clearing away impurity was originally physical and moral, not literary. The jump to editing books reflects the notion that unsuitable material is a stain to be scrubbed out of a text. Over time, the word narrowed from general cleansing to the specific business of removing passages judged offensive, most often in older editions of classic authors.

Synonyms: censors, removes, cleanses