bonze

From French bonze, from Portuguese bonzo, from Japanese 凡僧 (bonzō), from Middle Chinese 凡 (bjom, “ordinary”) +‎ 僧 (song, “Buddhist monk”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɒnz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

bonze (plural bonzes)

1. A Buddhist monk or priest in East Asia.

• bonzee, bonzo

• bhikku, bhikkhu, bikkhu, bhikshu
• bhikkhuni, bhikshuni

• benzo, benzo-

Borrowed from Portuguese bonzo, from Japanese 凡僧 (bonzō).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈbɔn.zə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈbon.ze]

bonze m (plural bonzes, feminine bonzessa, feminine plural bonzesses)

1. bonze (Buddhist monk)

• “bonze”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔn.zə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bon‧ze

Borrowed from Japanese 凡僧. The sense “bigwig” derives from German Bonze.

bonze m (plural bonzen, diminutive bonzetje n)

1. bonze (Buddhist priest) [from 17th c.]
2. boss, bigwig

• bons (bigwig)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

bonze

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of bonzen

• bezon

Borrowed from Portuguese bonzo, from Japanese 凡僧 (bonzō).

• IPA^(key): /bɔ̃z/

• Audio:

  (file)

bonze m (plural bonzes)

1. bonze, Buddhist priest
2. (derogatory) leader, bigwig

• bonzerie

• → English: bonze
• → German: Bonze

• “bonze”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.