Word Meaning 門前の小僧

もんぜんのこぞう monzen no kozou

門前の小僧 is read as もんぜんのこぞう (monzen no kozou) and means you learn, without realising it, from what is around you.

Meaning

English

you learn, without realising it, from what is around you
a shop-boy near the temple gate (will recite sutras untaught)

Reading

Kana

もんぜんのこぞう

Romaji

monzen no kozou

Stroke Sequence

5 Characters • 34 Total Strokes

Study Signals and Categories

JLPT N1 Jōyō Upper Grade Rank 50255 Priority H

Related Vocabulary

Max. 12

門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む

もんぜんのこぞうならわぬきょうをよむ

you learn, without realising it, from what is around you

小僧

こぞう

young Buddhist monk

一つ目小僧

ひとつめこぞう

one-eyed goblin

カメラ小僧

かめらこぞう

photographer, usually an amateur, who likes to take pictures of models and presenter ladies in exhibitions

悪たれ小僧

あくたれこぞう

bad boy

弁天小僧

べんてんこぞう

Benten Kozō (main character of the play Aoto Zōshi Hana no Nishiki-e)

小便小僧

しょうべんこぞう

Manneken Pis (cupid-like statue urinating into a fountain)

腕白小僧

わんぱくこぞう

naughty boy

悪戯小僧

いたずらこぞう

mischievous boy

唐傘小僧

からかさこぞう

karakasa-obake

門前町

もんぜんまち

town originally built around a temple or shrine

門前

もんぜん

before the gate

Example Sentences

門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む。

A saint's maid quotes Latin.