tonsure
the act of cutting the hair or shaving the head.
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.
the part of a cleric's head, usually the crown, left bare by shaving the hair.
the state of being shorn.
to confer the ecclesiastical tonsure upon.
to subject to tonsure.
Origin of tonsure
1Other words from tonsure
- un·ton·sured, adjective
Words Nearby tonsure
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tonsure in a sentence
But he never took orders, the clerical tonsure being a sufficient qualification for holding canonries.
The student was exempted by his tonsure from lay jurisdiction.
Oxford and Her Colleges | Goldwin SmithAssured, however, that he was in Dublin, he scratched his tonsure once more.
The House by the Church-Yard | J. Sheridan Le FanuPretty children, with their hair clipped around their heads like a priest's tonsure, sport around us, but are not intrusive.
In Eastern Seas | J. J. SmithThere was a fifth, a baker who wore the tonsure and was delivered to the episcopal court, which sentenced him to vergenza.
A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 4 | Henry Charles Lea
British Dictionary definitions for tonsure
/ (ˈtɒnʃə) /
(in certain religions and monastic orders)
the shaving of the head or the crown of the head only
the part of the head left bare by shaving
the state of being shaven thus
(tr) to shave the head of
Origin of tonsure
1Derived forms of tonsure
- tonsured, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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