tonsure

IPA: tˈɑnʃˈʊr

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

Examples of "tonsure" in Sentences

Formerly the tonsure was another identifying feature of the cleric.
The other, although in citizen's dress, he saw by the tonsure was a priest.
It formed what is known as the tonsure, then the mark of the monastic orders.
The man with the tonsure is speaking of trainee monk Dumitru Ilie who is said to have got “hammered” and spent the night a woman he met at a party.
I always thought the Christian practice of shaving a tonsure was the idea of some brownnoser trying to make his boss with male-pattern baldness look good.
The tonsure is a mark of the clerical state, and in Catholic countries it is made manifest by keeping a small circular spot on the crown of the head shaved perfectly clean.
After some time he receives what is called tonsure; that is, on the day of ordination the bishop cuts a little hair from five places on his head, to show that this young man is giving himself up to God.
Those who have vowed themselves to the service of the Church walking gaily in the dress of soldiers, engaged in carnal matters, letting their hair hang down their shoulders curled and powdered, and thinking scorn of the tonsure, which is the mark of the Kingdom of Heaven.