Tonsure Definition

tŏnshər
tonsured, tonsures, tonsuring
noun
A clipping off or shaving off of part or all of the hair of the head, done esp. formerly as a signal of entrance into the clerical or monastic state.
Webster's New World
The head area so clipped or shaved.
Webster's New World

The bald patch resulting from being tonsured.

Wiktionary
verb
To clip or shave the head hair of for such a purpose.
Webster's New World

(Christianity) To subject to the often ritual shaving of the crown of the head as a sign of humility and one's religious vocation. Some tonsures were more dramatic than others, leaving only a fringe of hair. Abolished by Vatican II in the Roman Catholic Church.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Tonsure

Noun

Singular:
tonsure
Plural:
tonsures

Origin of Tonsure

  • Middle English from Old French from Medieval Latin tōnsūra from Latin a shearing from tōnsus past participle of tondēre to shear tem- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin tonsÅ«ra (“a clipping, trimming"), from tondeō (“shear, clip, trim").

    From Wiktionary

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