剃度 (tì dù) — (Buddhism) tonsure, the shaving of the head as a monastic ordination rite

Definition

A Buddhist term for the head-shaving ceremony that formally ordains someone as a monk or nun. It is the specific ritual act, not everyday hair-cutting.

noun
(Buddhism) tonsure, the shaving of the head as a monastic ordination rite

Examples

  • 剃度。
    Tā èr shí suì nà nián jué dìng tì dù chū jiā.
    At the age of twenty, he decided to take tonsure and become a monk.
  • 剃度。
    tì dù Yí shì zài sì miào de dà diàn lǐ jǔ xíng.
    The tonsure ceremony was held in the main hall of the temple.
  • 剃度。
    Zhè wèi gāo sēng nián qīng shí céng zài cǐ tì dù.
    This eminent monk once took tonsure here when he was young.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

剃tìshave
度dùordination

剃 (shave) and 度 (ordination) name the two parts of the Buddhist tonsure rite.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 剃 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
又又yòuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
石
石shí度dù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

度 has 又 (hand) and a changed form of 石; 石 gives a related sound, and the hand is tied to using the hand as a reference for measurement.

Open 度 →

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