Serving to remove or eliminate something unwanted, particularly offensive or obscene content from a text.
From Late Latin expurgativus, derived from expurgare (ex- 'out' + purgare 'to cleanse'). The term evolved in the 16th-17th centuries to describe the practice of removing morally objectionable passages from books.
The Catholic Church actually maintained an 'Index of Prohibited Books' and required expurgative editions of texts—they'd literally black out or remove pages deemed sinful. It's wild that censorship was once so systematic and official!
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