DECALVATIO

decalvatio  (dee-kal-vay-shee-oh).Hist.  The  act  of  cutting  off  a  person’s  hair  to symbolize  a

total  loss of  honor.  • Although  some  early  legal  historians interpreted  this Germanic  practice  as

scalping, a leading historian of the early 20th century insisted that it referred only to the cutting of

hair. See Munroe Smith, The Development of European Law 99 (1928). [Blacks Law 8th]