Expurgation

[1][2][3][4] The term bowdlerization is often used in the context of the expurgation of lewd material from books.

[5] The term derives from Thomas Bowdler's 1818 edition of William Shakespeare's plays, which he reworked in ways that he felt were more suitable for women and children.

[6] He similarly edited Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

[8][9] Another term used in related discourse is censorship by so-called political correctness.

[10] When this practice is adopted voluntarily, by publishers of new editions or translators, it is seen as a form of self-censorship.