Late Middle English (in an earlier sense). From Anglo-Norman and Middle French rasure (French †rasure) erasure, scraping, shaving, action of shaving the beard or hair, tonsure and its etymon from classical Latin rāsūra process of scraping or shaving, in post-classical Latin also particle removed by scraping, shaving, tonsure, erasure from rās-, past participial stem of rādere to scrape, shave + -ūra.