noun
new monk or nun; neophyte; new Buddhist convert
Buddhist term for someone newly ordained or recently converted. The reading しんぼち is standard; しんぼっち and しぼち are variant readings restricted to the 新発意 spelling.
彼は先月、新発意として寺に入った。
He entered the temple last month as a new monk.
新発意の修行は厳しいと聞く。
I hear the training for new monks is strict.
Abbreviated spelling; less common and may be ambiguous.
From 新 (new) + 発意 (hatsui, 'to resolve, to aspire'), referring to a new religious aspiration or ordination. The reading しんぼち is a contraction of しんぼっち, itself a sound shift from しんぽっち (新発意).