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

• 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

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

Derived terms

bonsai army

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
• 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: bonsai m
• Japanese: 盆栽 (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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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

---

Indonesian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bon.sai/
• Hyphenation: bon‧sai

Noun

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

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.

---

Japanese

Romanization

bonsai

1. Rōmaji transcription of ぼんさい

---

Polish

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Japanese 盆栽 (bonsai).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): //ˈbɔn.saj//, //ˈbɔw̃.saj//

Noun

bonsai n

1. bonsai

Declension

Indeclinable.

Further reading

• Template:R:PWN

---

Portuguese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bõ.ˈsaj/

Noun

bonsai m (plural s)

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

---

Spanish

Noun

bonsai m (plural bonsais)

1. bonsai