tonsure

Etymology

From Middle English tonsure, from Anglo-Norman and Old French tonsure, from Latin tonsūra (“a clipping, trimming”), from tondeō (“shear, clip, trim”).

verb

  1. (Christianity, Buddhism) To shave the crown of the head as a sign of humility and religious vocation.

noun

  1. A ritual shaving of this kind.
  2. The hairstyle and characteristic bald patch resulting from being tonsured.

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/tonsure), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.