本尊

Chinese

		roots or stems of plants; origin; source roots or stems of plants; origin; source; this; the current; root; foundation; basis; (a measure word)	to honour
trad. (本尊)		本	尊
simp. #(本尊)		本	尊

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): běnzūn

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄣˇ ㄗㄨㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bun² zyun¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: běnzūn
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄣˇ ㄗㄨㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: běnzun
    • Wade–Giles: pên³-tsun¹
    • Yale: běn-dzwūn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: beentzuen
    • Palladius: бэньцзунь (bɛnʹczunʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pən²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡su̯ən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bun² zyun¹
    • Yale: bún jyūn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bun² dzyn¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bun² jun¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /puːn³⁵ t͡syːn⁵⁵/

Noun

本尊

1. (Buddhism) the idol or other main object of worship at a temple; the principal image; yidam
2. (neologism, slang) the original (person, version, etc.), as opposed to an imitator

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (本尊):

• → Japanese: 本尊(ほんぞん) (honzon)
• → Korean: 본존(本尊) (bonjon)

Pronoun

本尊

1. a first person pronoun used by deities in Chinese fiction

   Synonym: 本座 (běnzuò)

Further reading

• Ding, Fubao (丁福保) (1922), “本尊” in 佛學大辭典 [A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms].

Japanese

Kanji in this term
本	尊
ほん Grade: 1	そん > ぞん Grade: 6
on’yomi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [hõ̞nd͡zõ̞ɴ]

Noun

本(ほん)尊(ぞん) • (honzon) 

1. the idol or other main object of worship at a temple
   • 1922, 内藤鳴雪, 鳴雪自叙伝:

     本堂(ほんどう)の後(うし)ろの黒(くろ)本尊(ほんぞん)もやはり跣足(はだし)で這入(はい)ったものである。

     Hondō no ushiro no kuro honzon mo yahari hadashi de haitta mono de aru.

     Sure enough, behind the temple along with the black idol was somebody who'd come in barefoot.

2. the main object of attention or affection (often used sarcastically)
   • 1907, 夏目漱石, 野分:

     恋(こい)が装飾(そうしょく)ならば恋(こい)の本尊(ほんぞん)たる愛人(あいじん)は無論装飾品(むろんそうしょくひん)である。

     Koi ga sōshoku naraba koi no honzon taru aijin wa muron sōshokuhin de aru.

     If your love is for show, then of course your vaunted lover will be a mere ornament.