tonsus

See also: Tonsus

Latin

Etymology 1

Perfect passive participle of tondeō (“to shave, shear, clip”).

Participle

tōnsus (feminine tōnsa, neuter tōnsum); first/second-declension participle

1. having been shaved, shorn, clipped
2. having been cropped, pruned, trimmed
3. having been mowed, reaped
4. having been grazed upon
5. having been plundered, deprived
6. (nominalized, Medieval Latin) a priest, that has had his head tonsured

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	tōnsus	tōnsa	tōnsum		tōnsī	tōnsae	tōnsa
genitive	tōnsī	tōnsae	tōnsī		tōnsōrum	tōnsārum	tōnsōrum
dative	tōnsō	tōnsae	tōnsō		tōnsīs
accusative	tōnsum	tōnsam	tōnsum		tōnsōs	tōnsās	tōnsa
ablative	tōnsō	tōnsā	tōnsō		tōnsīs
vocative	tōnse	tōnsa	tōnsum		tōnsī	tōnsae	tōnsa

Derived terms

• intōnsus

Descendants

• Italian: toso
• Romanian: tuns
• Spanish: tuso

Etymology 2

From tondeō +‎ -tus (forming action nouns).

Noun

tōnsus m (genitive tōnsūs); fourth declension (pre-classical)

1. a hairstyle, haircut, hairdo
   • c. 190 BCE – 185 BCE, Plautus, Amphitryon 443–445:

     Tam consimile'st atque ego: sūra, pēs, statūra, tōnsus, oculī, nāsus vel labra, mālae, mentum, barba, collum - tōtus!

     He's so similar to me: his calves, feet, height, haircut, eyes, nose, and even lips, jaw, chin, beard, neck - all of it!

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	tōnsus	tōnsūs
genitive	tōnsūs	tōnsuum
dative	tōnsuī	tōnsibus
accusative	tōnsum	tōnsūs
ablative	tōnsū	tōnsibus
vocative	tōnsus	tōnsūs

References

• “tonsus²”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tonsus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• "tonsus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “tonsus”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly