| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 坊 | 主 |
| ぼう Grade: S |
す > ず Grade: 3 |
| on'yomi | |
Wasei kango (和製漢語), from 坊 (bō, “section of a town and its streets”) + 主 (zu, “lord, master”). The kanji 坊 originally referred to, in Sinitic, a division of a town and the lanes surrounding it, and gradually shifted to refer to the workshops and other buildings that might be found in such a section, including temples. Thus, the term literally refers to a "temple master", i.e. a head (Buddhist) monk, eventually coming to refer to Buddhist monks in general in Japanese.
The "bald head" sense comes from the traditional shaved heads of Buddhist monks (known as 坊主刈り (bōzugari)), while the "kiddo" sense comes from the custom for young boys to have shaved heads à la said monks in traditional Japanese society.[1]
The "monk" and "kiddo" meanings have been applied back to the constituent kanji 坊 in Japanese; see also 坊や (bōya) for an example.
May be used as an uncomplimentary address for a Buddhist priest or monk: Similar phonetically to 凡僧 (bonsō); or ぼんぞう (bonzō): an ordinary, lowly monk.
The “bald head, bald person” sense typically refers to one that is shaved bald, though may sometimes refer to one who is naturally bald, for example due to male pattern baldness or other hair loss.