坊ぼう

• お坊ぼうさんpolite 丁寧語N1sense 1

  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.

• 赤あかん坊ぼうN4

  baby; infant

• 寝ね坊ぼうN4

  oversleeping; sleeping in late · late riser; sleepyhead

• 坊ぼうさんN2

  Buddhist priest; monk · boy; lad

• 甘あまえん坊ぼう

  spoiled child; wheedling child; pampered child

• 食くいしん坊ぼう

  glutton; gourmand; big eater

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• 坊Usage95%iUsage for this spelling across all readings, not one reading alone.
  • ぼう

    Standard kanji spelling for most senses. Reading ぼん is rare and archaic.

  • ぼん
• ぼうUsage2%

  Kana spelling is common in informal writing, especially for the 'boy' and suffix senses.

• ぼんUsage2%
• ボウUsage<1%

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.