censé

censé

See also: cense

French

Etymology

Past participle of Middle French censer (verb), from Latin cēnsēre.[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃.se/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophone: sensé

Adjective

censé (feminine censée, masculine plural censés, feminine plural censées)

1. supposed to, meant to

   Il est censé être mort de maladie. ― He is supposed to have died from illness.

   Bien qu'il soit censé revenir immédiatement, on ne le revoit plus.

   Though he was meant to return immediately, he was not seen again.

2. (informal) Used adverbially

   Synonym: censément

   1. supposedly (according to hearsay or common belief)
   2. surely, almost certainly

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with sensé.

Derived terms

• censément
• censé tel
• nul n'est censé ignorer la loi

References

1. Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “censere”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 2: C Q K, page 579

Further reading

• “censé”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• scène

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Spanish

Verb

censé

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of censar