Meaning of tonsure


Pronunciation: (ton'shur), [key]
— n., v., -sured, -sur•ing.
  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.
  1. to confer the ecclesiastical tonsure upon.
  2. to subject to tonsure.
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