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tonsure

Pronunciation: /ˈtɒnsjə, ˈtɒnʃə/
Definition of tonsure

noun

  • a part of a monk’s or priest’s head left bare on top by shaving off the hair: his hair is thinning up there—soon he’ll have a tonsure like a monk’s
  • [in singular] an act of shaving the top of a monk’s or priest’s head as a preparation for entering a religious order: he received the tonsure

verb

[with object] (often as adjective tonsured)
  • give a tonsure to: Louis’s half-brothers were tonsured and sent away to monasteries

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin tonsura, from tondere 'shear, clip'

tonsure in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of tonsure in the US English dictionary

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