Associations to the word «Tonsure»

Wiktionary

TONSURE, verb. (Christianity) To subject to the often ritual shaving of the crown of the head as a sign of humility and one's religious vocation. Some tonsures were more dramatic than others, leaving only a fringe of hair. Abolished by Vatican II in the Roman Catholic Church.
TONSURE, noun. The bald patch resulting from being tonsured.

Dictionary definition

TONSURE, noun. The shaved crown of a monk's or priest's head.
TONSURE, noun. Shaving the crown of the head by priests or members of a monastic order.
TONSURE, verb. Shave the head of a newly inducted monk.

Wise words

Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.
Nathaniel Hawthorne