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tonsure - 5 dictionary results

ton⋅sure

  [ton-sher] noun, verb, -sured, -sur⋅ing.
Use tonsure in a Sentence
–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, esp. 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)
5. to confer the ecclesiastical tonsure upon.
6. to subject to tonsure.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L tōnsūra a shearing, equiv. to tōns(us) (ptp. of tondēre to shear, clip, shave) + -ūra -ure
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ton·sure   (tŏn'shər)   
n.  
  1. The act of shaving the head or part of the head, especially as a preliminary to becoming a priest or a member of a monastic order.
  2. The part of a monk's or priest's head that has been shaved.
tr.v.   ton·sured, ton·sur·ing, ton·sures
To shave the head of.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin tōnsūra, from Latin, a shearing, from tōnsus, past participle of tondēre, to shear; see tem- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tonsure

Ton"sure\, n. [F., fr. L. tonsura a shearing, clipping, from tondere, tonsum, to shear, shave; cf. Gr. ? to gnaw; perhaps akin to Gr. ? to cut, and E. tome.]

1. The act of clipping the hair, or of shaving the crown of the head; also, the state of being shorn.

2. (R. C. Ch.) (a) The first ceremony used for devoting a person to the service of God and the church; the first degree of the clericate, given by a bishop, abbot, or cardinal priest, consisting in cutting off the hair from a circular space at the back of the head, with prayers and benedictions; hence, entrance or admission into minor orders. (b) The shaven corona, or crown, which priests wear as a mark of their order and of their rank.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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tonsure 
1387, "shaving of the head or part of it as a religious rite," from Anglo-Fr. tonsure (1351), from O.Fr. tonsure (14c.), from L. tonsura "a shearing, clipping," from tonsus, pp. of tondere "to shear, shave," from PIE *tend-, from base *tem- "to cut" (see tome). The verb is attested from 1793.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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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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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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