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bonze

[ bonz ]
/ bɒnz /
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noun
a Buddhist monk, especially of Japan or China.
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Origin of bonze

1580–90; <Middle French <Portuguese bonzo or New Latin bonzius<Japanese bonsō, bonzō ordinary priest (bon- ordinary + priest <Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese fán-sēng); or <dialectal Japanese bonzu for bōzu priest
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bonze in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bonze

bonze
/ (bɒnz) /

noun
a Chinese or Japanese Buddhist priest or monk

Word Origin for bonze

C16: from French, from Portuguese bonzo, from Japanese bonsō, from Sanskrit bon + priest or monk
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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