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Bowdlerize

2 stages from English to English.

Today it means to remove material considered improper from a text

Where does the word "bowdlerize" come from? It comes from English Bowdler, adopted directly into English (1836).

1
Stage 1 of 2
Bowdler
English · 1818
"a family name"
Thomas Bowdler's Family Shakespeare (1818), expanding his sister Henrietta's anonymous 1807 edition, cut words 'which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family'
2
Stage 2 of 2
bowdlerize
English · 1836
"to censor prudishly"
within two decades his name meant any prudish expurgation of a text
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Read the full story

Bowdlerize’s story begins in English: Bowdler meant “a family name.” Thomas Bowdler's Family Shakespeare (1818), expanding his sister Henrietta's anonymous 1807 edition, cut words 'which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family'. It reached English by 1836 as bowdlerize. Within two decades his name meant any prudish expurgation of a text. Today, bowdlerize means to remove material considered improper from a text.