tonsure
Friar's bare crown
A tonsure is the shaved patch on a monk's or priest's head, traditionally leaving a ring of hair around the crown.
The practice marked religious devotion and humility in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions.
As a verb, to tonsure is to shave such a patch: The novice was tonsured upon entering the monastery.
The word now often describes any bald spot resembling this pattern.
Cloistered religious devotee
- friarMendicant order member
- monasteryReligious seclusion dwelling
- abbeyMonastic house of worship
- cloisterCovered monastic walkway
novitiate · habit · celibacy · asceticism · renunciation · hermitage · anchorite · contemplation
Blade for removing hair
crown · stubble · smooth · clippers · depilation · hairless · clean-shaven · grooming
monk
Cloistered religious devotee
cloister · novitiate · habit · celibacy · asceticism · renunciation · hermitage · anchorite · contemplation · vows
razor
Blade for removing hair
blade · crown · stubble · smooth · clippers · depilation · hairless · clean-shaven · grooming · pate
ordination
Clergy appointment ceremony
- consecrationDedicating to sacred purpose
- ceremonyFormal event marking occasions
- initiationFormal admission ceremony
sacrament · liturgy · vestments · blessing · chanting · incense · altar · sanctify · anointing · vocation
corona
Star's outermost atmosphere
patch · circle · ring · fringe · partial · medieval · clerical
- monastic lifecelibacy, cloister, habit, vespers, obedience
- monasticismabbeys, abbey, abbots, abbot, cloister
- Buddhist monksBuddhist monk, Buddhist monks, Buddhist nun, novice monk, novice
- Catholic monasticismabbeys, abbots, abbesses, brothers, sisters
- Colonial Catholicismfriars, Franciscans, Jesuits, Dominicans, Augustinians
- Early MedievalCharlemagne, Carolingian Empire, Carolingians, Carolingian, Viking Age