Tondeo, tondes, torondi, tonsum, tondere. To clip: to sheare: to reape: to mowe.Tondebant barbam & capillum patris.Cicer.They notted their fathers head and beard.Tondere. Suet. To cause his haire to bee notted and polled of a Barbour.Comas tondere. Tibul. Tondere oues. Plin. To sheare sheepe.
Lewis and Short: Latin dictionary
tondĕo, tŏtondi, tonsum, 2 (collat. form acc. to the third conj.: OVES TONDVNTVR, Calend. ap. Grut. 138), v. a. [for tomdeo; root in Gr. te/mnw, to cut], to shear, clip, crop, to shave, etc. I.Lit.: barbam et capillum, Cic. Tusc. 5, 20, 58; so, barbam, Mart. 11, 39, 3: capillum, Ov. M. 8, 151: cutem, Hor. Ep. 1, 18, 7: os, Cat. 61, 139: ovem, Plaut. Merc. 3, 1, 28; Hor. Epod. 2, 16; Verg. G. 3, 443; Plin. 18, 27, 67, 257; cf. lanam, Hor. C. 3, 15, 14: naevos in facie, Plin. 28, 4, 6, 34: saltatrix tonsa, i. e. with hair clipped short (of the Consul Gabinius), Cic. Pis. 8, 18; cf.: tonsus puer or minister, cropped, i. e. common, mean, Mart. 10, 98, 9; 11, 11, 3: ad alta tonsum templa cum reum misit, i. e. acquitted (prop. without the untrimmed hair of accused persons), id. 2, 74, 3.—Mid.: lavamur et tondemur et convivimus ex consuetudine, Quint. 1, 6, 44.— Absol.: ne tonsori collum committeret, tondere filias suas docuit, Cic. Tusc. 5, 20, 58.—And in reflex. sense: ut decrescente lunā tondens calvus fiam,
shaving myself
, Varr. R. R. 1, 37, 2: candidior postquain tondenti barba cadebat, Verg. E. 1, 29.—II.Transf.A.To crop, lop, prune, trim: ille comam mollis jam tondebat hyacinthi,
, Verg. G. 1, 71: nocte arida prata Tondentur, id. ib. 1, 290: tondeturque seges maturos annua partus, Tib. 4, 1, 172: tonsam verrit humum, Ov. R. Am. 192; Sen. Phoen. 130.— C.To crop, to graze, feed, or browse upon, to eat off; to pluck, gather, cull (poet.): ex uno tondentes gramina campo Lanigerae pecudes, Lucr. 2, 660: pabula (pecudes), id. 2, 317: dumeta (juvenci), Verg. G. 1, 15: campum late (equi), id. A. 3, 538: viridantia gramina morsu, id. Cul. 49: tondentes comam fluvii capellae, App. M. 5, p. 169, 37: jecur rostro (vultur), Verg. A. 6, 598: ales avida fecundum jecur, Sen. Agam. 18; cf. in a Greek constr.: illa autem, quae tondetur praecordia rostro Alitis, Sil. 13, 839. — D. As in Engl., to shave, fleece, for to deprive, plunder (very rare): adibo hunc ... itaque tondebo auro usque ad vivam cutem, Plaut. Bacch. 2, 3, 8: tondens purpureā regna paterna comā, Prop. 3, 19 (4, 18), 22.