Refers to a Buddhist monk. 'Bonze' is an older term from European writings; 'monk' is the standard modern gloss.
あの坊は毎朝お経をあげている。
That monk chants sutras every morning.
monk's dwelling
Only with reading ぼう
Restricted to reading ぼう. Refers to the living quarters of a Buddhist monk.
山の上の坊から鐘の音が聞こえる。
The sound of the bell can be heard from the monk's dwelling on the mountain.
Affectionate or familiar term for a young boy or one's own son. Can be used as a form of address.
うちの坊はまだ小学生だ。
Our boy is still in elementary school.
Only with reading ぼう
Restricted to reading ぼう. Used by male children as a first-person pronoun. Informal and childish.
坊、今日は公園に行きたいんだ。
I wanna go to the park today.
person who is ...
Only with reading ぼう
Restricted to reading ぼう. Suffix indicating a person characterized by the preceding word. Often preceded by ん, e.g., けちん坊 (miser), 食いしん坊 (glutton).
彼は本当に食いしん坊だね。
He's a real glutton, isn't he.
あのけちん坊
He's really a spoiled, clingy kid.
坊、ちょっとこっちにおいで。
Hey, sonny, come here for a moment.
It's rare for that miser to treat us.
坊や is the standard affectionate term used to address a little boy, while 坊 by itself is less commonly used alone as a direct address.
坊主 is a common colloquial (sometimes derogatory) word for a monk or a shaved head, while 坊 alone is older and more restricted, often appearing only as part of compounds.
お坊さん is the polite, everyday way to refer to a Buddhist monk, while 坊 alone sounds blunt or old-fashioned and is rarely used standalone in polite speech.
baby; infant
oversleeping; sleeping in late · late riser; sleepyhead
Buddhist priest; monk · boy; lad
spoiled child; wheedling child; pampered child
glutton; gourmand; big eater
Standard kanji spelling for most senses. Reading ぼん is rare and archaic.
Kana spelling is common in informal writing, especially for the 'boy' and suffix senses.
From Middle Chinese 坊 (pjang), originally meaning 'ward' or 'section of a city', later extended to 'monk's quarters' and then to 'monk'. The 'boy' and suffix uses are Japanese developments, likely from the association of young boys with shaven-headed monks or from the affectionate use of temple-related terms.
flat and smooth; featureless · unchanging; monotonous; expressionless · noppera-bō; faceless ghost
temple lodging; pilgrims' quarters; priest's quarters
wanderer; vagabond; drifter
Buddhist priest; monk · shaved head; close-cropped hair; crew cut · boy; lad; sonny · getting skunked; catching nothing · August 20-point card (hanafuda)
boy; son; child · mere boy; stripling; greenhorn
Buddhist priest; monk · someone else's son
middle-school student; junior high kid
priests' temple quarters; monks' living quarters
beetle-browed boy; mischief
former crown prince; the late crown prince
monk's quarters; monk's living area
all over town; throughout the town
office serving the crown prince (ritsuryō system)