bonsai

See also: bonsaï, bonsái, and Bonsai

English

A bonsai maple tree.

Etymology 1

From Japanese 盆栽 (bonsai), from Middle Chinese 盆 (MC bwon, “bowl”) + 栽 (MC tsoj|dzojH, “to plant”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑnsaɪ/, /ˈbɑnzaɪ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɒnsaɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

bonsai (countable and uncountable, plural bonsai or bonsais)

2. (countable) A tree or plant that has been miniaturized by planting it in a small pot, restricting its roots, and by careful pruning.
3. (uncountable) The art of planting and growing trees or plants in such a manner.

Verb

bonsai (third-person singular simple present bonsais, present participle bonsaiing, simple past and past participle bonsaied)

1. (transitive) To make into a bonsai by restricting the roots and pruning.
   • 2001, Dennis Parks, Living in the Country Growing Weird, page 50:

     Could I be a father who was, so to speak, bonsaiing his children, trimming urban roots, and then twisting the emerging branches?

Derived terms

• bonsai army
• prebonsai

Translations

a miniaturized tree or plant

• Arabic: بُونْسَاي m (būnsāy), بُونْسَاي m (bonsay)
• Azerbaijani: bonsay
• Bulgarian: бонса́й m (bonsáj)
• Catalan: bonsai m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 盆景 (zh) (pénjǐng), 盆栽 (zh) (pénzāi)

• Czech: bonsai f, bonsaj (cs) f
• Danish: bonsai c, bonsaitræ n
• Esperanto: bonsajo
• Finnish: bonsai (fi)
• French: bonsaï (fr) m, bonzaï (fr) m
• German: Bonsai (de) m, Bonsaibaum (de) m
• Greek: μπονσάι (el) n (bonsái)
• Hebrew: בּוֹנְסַאי (he) (bónsay)
• Hungarian: bonszai (hu)
• Icelandic: dvergtré n
• Indonesian: bonsai (id)
• Italian: bonsai m
• Japanese: 盆栽 (ja) (ぼんさい, bonsai)
• Korean: 분재 (ko) (bunjae)
• Malay: bonsai
• Marathi: बॉनसाई n (bŏnsāī)
• Polish: bonsai (pl) n
• Portuguese: bonsai (pt) m
• Russian: бонса́й (ru) m (bonsáj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бонсаи m

  Roman: bonsai m

• Spanish: bonsái (es) m
• Swedish: bonsai (sv), bonsaiträd (sv) n
• Telugu: మరుగుజ్జు చెట్టు (marugujju ceṭṭu), బోన్సాయి (bōnsāyi)
• Thai: บอนไซ (th) (bɔɔn-sai, bɔn-sai)
• Turkish: bonsai (tr), bonsay
• Ukrainian: бонса́й m (bonsáj)
• Vietnamese: bồn tài (盆栽 (vi))

the art of growing miniaturized trees or plants

• Danish: bonsai c
• French: bonsaï (fr) m, bonzaï (fr) m
• Indonesian: bonsai (id)
• Japanese: 盆栽の技術 (bonsai no gijutsu)
• Malay: bonsai
• Marathi: बॉनसाई n (bŏnsāī)
• Portuguese: bonsai (pt) m
• Thai: บอนไซ (th) (bɔɔn-sai, bɔn-sai)

Etymology 2

Interjection

bonsai

1. Misspelling of banzai.

Anagrams

• Bosnia, basion, sabino

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 盆栽.

Noun

bonsai

1. (countable) bonsai tree
2. (uncountable) art of bonsai

Synonyms

• (tree): bonsaitræ

Finnish

Etymology

From Japanese 盆栽 (bonsai).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbonsɑi̯/, [ˈbo̞ns̠ɑ̝i̯]
• Rhymes: -onsɑi
• Syllabification^(key): bon‧sai
• Hyphenation^(key): bon‧sai

Noun

bonsai

1. bonsai

Declension

Inflection of bonsai (Kotus type 18/maa, no gradation)
nominative		bonsai	bonsait
genitive		bonsain	bonsaiden bonsaitten
partitive		bonsaita	bonsaita
illative		bonsaihin	bonsaihin
		singular	plural
nominative		bonsai	bonsait
accusative	nom.	bonsai	bonsait
	gen.	bonsain
genitive		bonsain	bonsaiden bonsaitten
partitive		bonsaita	bonsaita
inessive		bonsaissa	bonsaissa
elative		bonsaista	bonsaista
illative		bonsaihin	bonsaihin
adessive		bonsailla	bonsailla
ablative		bonsailta	bonsailta
allative		bonsaille	bonsaille
essive		bonsaina	bonsaina
translative		bonsaiksi	bonsaiksi
abessive		bonsaitta	bonsaitta
instructive		—	bonsain
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of bonsai (Kotus type 18/maa, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative bonsaini bonsaini accusative nom. bonsaini bonsaini gen. bonsaini genitive bonsaini bonsaideni bonsaitteni partitive bonsaitani bonsaitani inessive bonsaissani bonsaissani elative bonsaistani bonsaistani illative bonsaihini bonsaihini adessive bonsaillani bonsaillani ablative bonsailtani bonsailtani allative bonsailleni bonsailleni essive bonsainani bonsainani translative bonsaikseni bonsaikseni abessive bonsaittani bonsaittani instructive — — comitative — bonsaineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative bonsaisi bonsaisi accusative nom. bonsaisi bonsaisi gen. bonsaisi genitive bonsaisi bonsaidesi bonsaittesi partitive bonsaitasi bonsaitasi inessive bonsaissasi bonsaissasi elative bonsaistasi bonsaistasi illative bonsaihisi bonsaihisi adessive bonsaillasi bonsaillasi ablative bonsailtasi bonsailtasi allative bonsaillesi bonsaillesi essive bonsainasi bonsainasi translative bonsaiksesi bonsaiksesi abessive bonsaittasi bonsaittasi instructive — — comitative — bonsainesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative bonsaimme bonsaimme accusative nom. bonsaimme bonsaimme gen. bonsaimme genitive bonsaimme bonsaidemme bonsaittemme partitive bonsaitamme bonsaitamme inessive bonsaissamme bonsaissamme elative bonsaistamme bonsaistamme illative bonsaihimme bonsaihimme adessive bonsaillamme bonsaillamme ablative bonsailtamme bonsailtamme allative bonsaillemme bonsaillemme essive bonsainamme bonsainamme translative bonsaiksemme bonsaiksemme abessive bonsaittamme bonsaittamme instructive — — comitative — bonsainemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative bonsainne bonsainne accusative nom. bonsainne bonsainne gen. bonsainne genitive bonsainne bonsaidenne bonsaittenne partitive bonsaitanne bonsaitanne inessive bonsaissanne bonsaissanne elative bonsaistanne bonsaistanne illative bonsaihinne bonsaihinne adessive bonsaillanne bonsaillanne ablative bonsailtanne bonsailtanne allative bonsaillenne bonsaillenne essive bonsainanne bonsainanne translative bonsaiksenne bonsaiksenne abessive bonsaittanne bonsaittanne instructive — — comitative — bonsainenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative bonsainsa bonsainsa accusative nom. bonsainsa bonsainsa gen. bonsainsa genitive bonsainsa bonsaidensa bonsaittensa partitive bonsaitaan bonsaitansa bonsaitaan bonsaitansa inessive bonsaissaan bonsaissansa bonsaissaan bonsaissansa elative bonsaistaan bonsaistansa bonsaistaan bonsaistansa illative bonsaihinsa bonsaihinsa adessive bonsaillaan bonsaillansa bonsaillaan bonsaillansa ablative bonsailtaan bonsailtansa bonsailtaan bonsailtansa allative bonsailleen bonsaillensa bonsailleen bonsaillensa essive bonsainaan bonsainansa bonsainaan bonsainansa translative bonsaikseen bonsaiksensa bonsaikseen bonsaiksensa abessive bonsaittaan bonsaittansa bonsaittaan bonsaittansa instructive — — comitative — bonsaineen bonsainensa

Derived terms

compounds

• bonsaipuu

Further reading

• “bonsai”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Indonesian

bonsai

Etymology

From Japanese 盆栽(ぼんさい) (bonsai), from Middle Chinese 盆 (MC bwon, “bowl”) + 栽 (MC tsoj|dzojH, “to plant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɔnsai̯]
• Hyphenation: bon‧sai

Noun

bonsai (countable and uncountable, plural bonsai-bonsai)

1. bonsai:
   1. a tree or plant that has been miniaturized by planting it in a small pot, restricting its roots, and by careful pruning
   2. the art of planting and growing trees or plants in such a manner

Alternative forms

• bongsai

Derived terms

• membonsai
• membonsaikan
• pebonsai
• pembonsaian

Further reading

• “bonsai” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Japanese

Romanization

bonsai

1. Rōmaji transcription of ぼんさい

Polish

bonsai

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English bonsai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔnˈzaj/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aj
• Syllabification: bon‧sai

Noun

bonsai n (indeclinable)

1. bonsai (tree or plant that has been miniaturized by planting it in a small pot, restricting its roots, and by careful pruning)
2. bonsai (art of planting and growing trees or plants in such a manner)

Further reading

• bonsai in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• bonsai in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 盆栽 (ぼんさい, bonsai).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /bõˈsaj/ [bõˈsaɪ̯]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /bõˈsaj/

• Hyphenation: bon‧sai

Noun

bonsai m (plural bonsais)

1. bonsai (a miniaturised tree or plant)
2. (uncountable) bonsai (the art of growing miniaturised trees or plants)

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbonsai/ [ˈbõn.sai̯]
• Rhymes: -onsai
• Syllabification: bon‧sai

Noun

bonsai m (plural bonsais)

1. bonsai