English Explanatory Dictionary

tonsure

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To shave the crown of the head of (a person) 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.

Pronunciation

/ˈtɒn.ʃə(ɹ)/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tonsure.wav /ˈtɑn.ʃɚ/

Word forms

tonsure tonsures tonsuring tonsured

Etymology

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

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on T Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary