凡僧

Japanese

Kanji in this term
凡	僧
ぼん Grade: S	そう Grade: S
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
(kyūjitai)

Kanji in this term
凡	僧
ぼん Grade: S	そう > ぞう Grade: S
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
(kyūjitai)

Noun

凡(ぼん)僧(そう) or 凡(ぼん)僧(ぞう) • (bonsō or bonzō)

An ordinary, lowly, itinerant monk.
- 1603, Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam (Nippo Jisho) [Vocabulary of the Language of Japan] (in Portuguese), Nagasaki, page 61:
  Bonzô ボンゾゥ (凡僧) すなわち、Curai naqi iyaxiqi sô. (位なき卑しき僧) 位のない普通の僧.
  Bonzō, that is to say a lowly monk of low standing. An ordinary monk of low standing.

Descendants

→ Portuguese: bonzo
- → Spanish: bonzo
- → French: bonze
  - → Dutch: bonze
  - → English: bonze
  - → German: Bonze
    - → Hungarian: bonc
  - → Romanian: bonz
  - → Russian: бо́нза (bónza)
  - → Ukrainian: бо́нза (bónza)
- → Italian: bonzo
→ Polish: bonza (both "monk" and "bigwig"), → bonzo ("bigwig") (most likely borrowed through at least one intermediary)

References

Doi, Tadao (1603–1604) Hōyaku Nippo Jisho (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1980, →ISBN.