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• Bon
  Bon

  noun

  Cape, a cape on the NE coast of Tunisia: surrender of the German African forces, May 12, 1943.
• Bön
  Bön

  noun

  a shamanistic Tibetan sect, absorbed by the first Buddhist sects of the 7th century and later.

Bon

¹ American  

[bon, bawn] / bɒn, bɔ̃ /

noun

1. Cape, a cape on the NE coast of Tunisia: surrender of the German African forces, May 12, 1943.

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Bon ² American  

[bawn] / bɔn /

noun

1. an annual festival of the Japanese Buddhists, welcoming ancestral spirits to household altars.

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Bön ³ American  

[bohn] / boʊn /

noun

1. a shamanistic Tibetan sect, absorbed by the first Buddhist sects of the 7th century and later.

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Bon ¹ British  

/ bɔːn /

noun

1. Also called: Feast of Lanterns.   Festival of Lanterns.  an annual festival celebrated by Japanese Buddhists

2. 1. the pre-Buddhist priests of Tibet or one such priest

   2. their religion

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Bon ² British  

/ bɒn /

noun

1. a peninsula of NE Tunisia

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Etymology

Origin of Bon

< Japanese, originally Urabon < Chinese version of Sanskrit ullambana literally, hanging upside down (a metaphor for the suffering brought on by physical desires)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Bon Bön

In a caption on Instagram, the venue said the star had broken "his ankle on Tuesday... but still supported Bon Jovi on Wednesday".

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

He learned about the importance of balance while working with Frank Guidara, the former CEO of Au Bon Pain and father of celebrated restaurateur Will Guidara, former co-owner of Manhattan’s Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

The nursery, based in Aberdeen's Bon Accord Street, admitted failing to have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, and safe system of work, for the cleaning of the premises.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

Built shortly before World War I to complement the Left Bank’s Le Bon Marché department store, the hotel hosted visiting tourists, businessmen, families and conventions of professionals from all over Europe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

O Bon was a special celebration for spirits of the dead who returned to visit those they had loved on earth.

From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr

Although it hardly comes within the scope of the present study, I may mention that there is also some non-Buddhist literature in Tibet, sometimes described as scriptures of the Bön religion and sometimes as folklore.

From Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3 by Sir Charles Eliot