also: ぼんぞう
ordinary priest; unranked priest
Buddhist term for a monk without a high rank or special status; a common priest.
He is not a high-ranking priest, but merely an ordinary monk.
foolish monk
Only with reading ぼんそう
Derogatory term for a monk considered ignorant or lacking in virtue; restricted to reading ぼんそう.
That foolish monk ignored the precepts and behaved as he pleased.
Standard kanji spelling for both senses; reading ぼんそう is the most common.
Alternate reading; less common than ぼんそう.
Compound of 凡 (bon, 'ordinary, mediocre') and 僧 (sō, 'monk'). The reading ぼんぞう is a variant with rendaku.