bonze

[ bonz ]

noun

1. a Buddhist monk, especially of Japan or China.

bonze

/ bɒnz /

noun

1. a Chinese or Japanese Buddhist priest or monk

Word History and Origins

Origin of bonze¹

1580–90; < Middle French < Portuguese bonzo or New Latin bonzius < Japanese bonsō, bonzō ordinary priest ( bon- ordinary + sō priest < Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese f án-sēng ); or < dialectal Japanese bonzu for bōzu priest

Word History and Origins

Origin of bonze¹

C16: from French, from Portuguese bonzo , from Japanese bonsō , from Sanskrit bon + sō priest or monk

Example Sentences

A priest, or bonze, handed us some little tapers for us to light and offer to his divinity.

From Project Gutenberg

Over this pit is an armchair, to which the deceased bonze is fastened in full costume.

From Project Gutenberg

But one young bonze named "Lift-the-Kettle" (after a passage in the Sanscrit classics) had rigidly kept the rules.

From Project Gutenberg

In the eyes of the people Xavier was merely a new kind of bonze, and they listened to him with the greatest attention.

From Project Gutenberg

He was conducted by his bearers to the largest temple in the city, where a yellow-robed bonze was in waiting to receive him.

From Project Gutenberg