tonsura
Portuguese, noun/tõˈsu.ɾɐ/
tonsura is spelled T-O-N-S-U-R-A (7 letters) and appears about once in every 63 million words in written Portuguese, the 220,311th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Tonsura is a Portuguese feminine noun meaning “the typical round haircut on the top of the head used by bishops and other ecclesiastics” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “corte de cabelo redondo, no topo da cabeça, conferido pelo Bispo aos eclesiásticos que obtiveram o primeiro…”.
What does tonsura mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininethe typical round haircut on the top of the head used by bishops and other ecclesiastics
- 2
femininethe ceremony in which this cut is made, also called prima tonsura
- 3
feminineact of cutting the hair and/or beard
- 4
feminineclearing
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
noun: 1. corte de cabelo redondo, no topo da cabeça, conferido pelo Bispo aos eclesiásticos que obtiveram o primeiro grau do clericato; a cerimônia em que esse corte é realizado 2. cercilho; esse corte de cabelo 3. ação ou efeito de cortar os cabelos e a barba 4. clareira; ação de cortar matos para abrir caminho
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of tonsura
- tonsuras plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce tonsura?
- Brazil /tõˈsu.ɾɐ/
- Portugal /tõˈsu.ɾɐ/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is tonsura in Portuguese?
tonsura appears about once in every 63 million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).