bonze

American  

[bonz] / bɒnz /

noun

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

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bonze British  

/ bɒnz /

noun

1. a Chinese or Japanese Buddhist priest or monk

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Etymology

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 f án-sēng ); or < dialectal Japanese bonzu for bōzu priest

Example Sentences

“Hopefully it’s soon,” Elway said Friday night at a ceremony dedicating a bonze likeness of Bowlen outside Sports Authority Field.

From Washington Times • Nov. 2, 2015

When the Tokyo School of Fine Arts opened in 1887,its American co-founder, the "Boston bonze" Ernest Fenollosa, insisted that it teach only traditional Japanese techniques.

From Time Magazine Archive

It took him seven years—years in which ostensibly he lived the life of an ordinary, if exceptionally austere, bonze.

From Time Magazine Archive

"The robe does not make the bonze," said Mme.

From Time Magazine Archive

He’s painted himself in the style of a bonze, looking a little bit Japanese.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman