Word Meanings - TONSURE - Book Publishers vocabulary database

1. The act of clipping the hair, or of shaving the crown of the head; also, the state of being shorn. The first ceremony used for devoting a person to the service of God and the church; the first degree of the clericate, given by a bishop, abbot,

Additional info about word: TONSURE

1. The act of clipping the hair, or of shaving the crown of the head; also, the state of being shorn. The first ceremony used for devoting a person to the service of God and the church; the first degree of the clericate, given by a bishop, abbot, or cardinal priest, consisting in cutting off the hair from a circular space at the back of the head, with prayers and benedictions; hence, entrance or admission into minor orders. The shaven corona, or crown, which priests wear as a mark of their order and of their rank.

Related words: (words related to TONSURE)

• BELLMAN
  A man who rings a bell, especially to give notice of anything in the streets. Formerly, also, a night watchman who called the hours. Milton.
• BESCRATCH
  To tear with the nails; to cover with scratches.
• BELIAL
  An evil spirit; a wicked and unprincipled person; the personification of evil. What concord hath Christ with Belia 2 Cor. vi. 15. A son of Belial, a worthless, wicked, or thoroughly depraved person. 1 Sam. ii. 12.
• BEASTLIHEAD
  Beastliness. Spenser.
• BEWRAP
  To wrap up; to cover. Fairfax.
• CROWN SIDE
  See OFFICE
• BERGOMASK
  A rustic dance, so called in ridicule of the people of Bergamo, in Italy, once noted for their clownishness.
• BESCATTER
  1. To scatter over. 2. To cover sparsely by scattering ; to strew. "With flowers bescattered." Spenser.
• BELEAVE
  To leave or to be left. May.
• BEVELMENT
  The replacement of an edge by two similar planes, equally inclined to the including faces or adjacent planes.
• BESCORN
  To treat with scorn. "Then was he bescorned." Chaucer.
• BETSO
  A small brass Venetian coin.
• CHURCHLINESS
  Regard for the church.
• STATESMANLIKE
  Having the manner or wisdom of statesmen; becoming a statesman.
• BETOKEN
  1. To signify by some visible object; to show by signs or tokens. A dewy cloud, and in the cloud a bow . . . Betokening peace from God, and covenant new. Milton. 2. To foreshow by present signs; to indicate something future by that which is seen
• BECHE DE MER
  The trepang.
• BELLADONNA
  An herbaceous European plant with reddish bell-shaped flowers and shining black berries. The whole plant and its fruit are very poisonous, and the root and leaves are used as powerful medicinal agents. Its properties are largely due
• BETROTHAL
  The act of betrothing, or the fact of being betrothed; a mutual promise, engagement, or contract for a future marriage between the persons betrothed; betrothment; affiance. "The feast of betrothal." Longfellow.
• BESLUBBER
  To beslobber.
• BENIM
  To take away. Ire . . . benimeth the man fro God. Chaucer.
• COMBER
  1. One who combs; one whose occupation it is to comb wool, flax, etc. Also, a machine for combing wool, flax, etc. 2. A long, curling wave.
• GABBER
  1. A liar; a deceiver. 2. One addicted to idle talk.
• HAIRBELL
  See HAREBELL
• ORBED
  Having the form of an orb; round. The orbèd eyelids are let down. Trench.
• LAMBERT PINE
  The gigantic sugar pine of California and Oregon (Pinus Lambertiana). It has the leaves in fives, and cones a foot long. The timber is soft, and like that of the white pine of the Eastern States.
• GERBE
  A kind of ornamental firework. Farrow.
• WATER-BEARER
  The constellation Aquarius.
• GABELER
  A collector of gabels or taxes.
• CREBRICOSTATE
  Marked with closely set ribs or ridges.
• CORYMBED
  Corymbose.
• ABERRATE
  To go astray; to diverge. Their own defective and aberrating vision. De Quincey.
• INDEVOTE
  Not devoted. Bentley. Clarendon.