Trainee Buddhist monk.

In Buddhist context, a samanera (Pali, Sanskrit: śrāmaṇera) can be translated as novice monk. It literally means 'small samana', or small renunciate, where 'small' has the meaning of boy or girl. In the Vinaya (monastic discipline), a man under the age of 20 cannot ordain as a bhikkhu, but can ordain as a samanera.