tonsure

[ton-sher] /ˈtɒn ʃər/
noun
1.
the act of cutting the hair or shaving the head.
2.
the shaving of the head or of some part of it as a religious practice or rite, especially in preparation for entering the priesthood or a monastic order.
3.
the part of a cleric's head, usually the crown, left bare by shaving the hair.
4.
the state of being shorn.
verb (used with object), tonsured, tonsuring.
5.
to confer the ecclesiastical tonsure upon.
6.
to subject to tonsure.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English < Latin tōnsūra a shearing, equivalent to tōns(us) (past participle of tondēre to shear, clip, shave) + -ūra -ure
Related forms
untonsured, adjective
Examples from the web for tonsure
  • She soon after took the religious veil, and he received the clerical tonsure.
British Dictionary definitions for tonsure

tonsure

/ˈtɒnʃə/
noun
1.
(in certain religions and monastic orders)
  1. the shaving of the head or the crown of the head only
  2. the part of the head left bare by shaving
  3. the state of being shaven thus
verb
2.
(transitive) to shave the head of
Derived Forms
tonsured, adjective
Word Origin
C14: from Latin tōnsūra a clipping, from tondēre to shave
Word Origin and History for tonsure
n.

late 14c., "shaving of the head or part of it as a religious rite," from Anglo-French tonsure (mid-14c.), from Old French tonsure (14c.), from Latin tonsura "a shearing, clipping," from tonsus, past participle of tondere "to shear, shave," from PIE *tend-, from root *tem- "to cut" (see tome). The verb is attested from 1793. Related: Tonsured; tonsuring.

Encyclopedia Article for tonsure

in various religions, a ceremony of initiation in which hair is clipped from the head as part of the ritual marking one's entrance into a new stage of religious development or activity

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