Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Roman Catholic Church An attestation by a church censor that a book contains nothing damaging to faith or morals.
  • noun Official approval, especially of an artistic work.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun authoritative approval
  • noun the phrase used by the official censor of the Roman Catholic Church to say that a publication has been examined and contains nothing offensive to the church

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, nothing hinders : nihil, nothing + obstat, third person sing. present tense of obstāre, to hinder.]

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