What it means
سانسور (sânsur) means censorship: the suppression or control of information, speech, art, or media by an authority. The word entered Persian from French “censure” and carries its French phonology intact. In everyday use it describes anything that gets blocked, cut, or banned by an official body. A close related term is ممنوعیت (mamnu’iyyat), meaning prohibition, but سانسور specifically implies an active editorial hand rather than a blanket ban.
How to use it
- این فیلم به خاطر سانسور در ایران پخش نشد. (in film be khâtar-e sânsur dar irân pakhsh nashod.) “This film was not broadcast in Iran because of censorship.”
- اینترنت در بسیاری از کشورها سانسور میشه. (internet dar besyâri az keshvarhâ sânsur mishe.) “The internet gets censored in many countries.”
- کتابش توسط دولت سانسور شد. (ketâbash tavasot-e dowlat sânsur shod.) “His book was censored by the government.”
- مطبوعات آزاد بدون سانسور کار میکنن. (matbu’ât-e âzâd bedun-e sânsur kâr mikonan.) “A free press operates without censorship.”
Cultural note
Censorship has been a persistent legal and cultural issue in Iran across different political eras. The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (وزارت ارشاد) holds formal authority to approve books, films, and music before public release. The word سانسور itself, borrowed from French in the late Qajar period, signals the concept arrived alongside early encounters with European press freedom debates. Iranians often use the word in everyday conversation to describe any situation where information is withheld, from a redacted news report to a scene cut from a domestic film print.