bonsai

See also: bonsaï, bonsái, and Bonsai

English

A bonsai maple tree.

Etymology 1

From Japanese 盆栽 (bonsai), from Middle Chinese 盆 (MC buən, “bowl”) + 栽 (MC t͡sʌi, d͡zʌi^H, “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)

1. (countable) A tree or plant that has been miniaturized by planting it in a small pot, restricting its roots, and by careful pruning.
2. (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
• German: Bonsai (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
• Polish: bonsai (pl) n
• Portuguese: bonsai (pt) m
• Russian: бонса́й (ru) m (bonsáj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бонсаи m

  Roman: bonsai m

• Spanish: bonsái m
• Swedish: bonsai (sv), bonsaiträd n
• Telugu: మరుగుజ్జు చెట్టు (marugujju ceṭṭu), బోన్సాయి (bōnsāyi)
• Turkish: bonsai (tr), bonsay
• Ukrainian: бонса́й m (bonsáj)
• Vietnamese: bồn tài (vi) (盆栽 (vi))

the art of growing miniaturized trees or plants

• Danish: bonsai c
• Indonesian: bonsai (id)
• Japanese: 盆栽の技術 (bonsai no gijutsu)
• Malay: bonsai
• Portuguese: bonsai (pt) m

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/, [ˈbo̞ns̠ɑi̯]
• Rhymes: -onsɑi
• Syllabification^(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
instructive		—	bonsain
abessive		bonsaitta	bonsaitta
comitative		—	bonsaineen

Possessive forms of bonsai (type maa)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	bonsaini	bonsaimme
2nd person	bonsaisi	bonsainne
3rd person	bonsainsa

Indonesian

bonsai

Etymology

From Japanese 盆栽(ぼんさい) (bonsai), from Middle Chinese 盆 (MC buən, “bowl”) + 栽 (MC t͡sʌi, d͡zʌi^H, “to plant”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

bonsai (first-person possessive bonsaiku, second-person possessive bonsaimu, third-person possessive bonsainya)

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: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Japanese

Romanization

bonsai

1. Rōmaji transcription of ぼんさい

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 盆栽 (bonsai).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔn.saj/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔnsaj
• Syllabification: bon‧sai

Noun

bonsai n (indeclinable)

1. bonsai

Further reading

• bonsai in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• bonsai in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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