bonze

[ bonz ]

/ bɒnz /

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noun

a Buddhist monk, especially of Japan or China.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of bonze

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

Words nearby bonze

bony bream, bony fish, bony labyrinth, Bonynge, bonytail, bonze, bonzer, boo, boob, boob happy, boobhead

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bonze in a sentence

A priest, or bonze, handed us some little tapers for us to light and offer to his divinity.
A Woman's Journey Round the World|Ida Pfeiffer
Over this pit is an armchair, to which the deceased bonze is fastened in full costume.
A Woman's Journey Round the World|Ida Pfeiffer
But one young bonze named "Lift-the-Kettle" (after a passage in the Sanscrit classics) had rigidly kept the rules.
Japanese Fairy World|William Elliot Griffis
In the eyes of the people Xavier was merely a new kind of bonze, and they listened to him with the greatest attention.
The Jesuits, 1534-1921|Thomas J. Campbell

He was conducted by his bearers to the largest temple in the city, where a yellow-robed bonze was in waiting to receive him.
In Eastern Seas|J. J. Smith

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 + sō 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