Meanings
bonsai1
nounbonsai (countable and uncountable, plural bonsai or bonsais)
plural bonsais
- uncountableThe art of planting and growing trees or plants in such a manner.
verbbonsai (third-person singular simple present bonsais, present participle bonsaiing, simple past and past participle bonsaied)
present singular third person bonsais · participle present bonsaiing · participle past bonsaied · past bonsaied
- transitiveTo make into a bonsai by restricting the roots and pruning.
Could I be a father who was, so to speak, bonsaiing his children, trimming urban roots, and then twisting the emerging branches?
2001, Dennis Parks, Living in the Country Growing Weird, page 50
bonsai2
interjection
- misspellingMisspelling of banzai.
Origin
- Japanese盆栽
- Englishbonsai
From Japanese 盆栽 (bonsai), from Middle Chinese 盆 (MC bwon, “bowl”) + 栽 (MC tsoj|dzojH, “to plant”).
More words from Japanese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بُونْسَاي, بُونْسَاي
- بُونْسَاي (būnsāy)a miniaturized tree or plant
- بُونْسَاي (bonsay)a miniaturized tree or plant
Bulgarian бонса́й, бонза́й
- бонса́й (bonsáj)a miniaturized tree or plant
- бонза́й (bonzáj)a miniaturized tree or plant
- бонса́й (bonsáj)the art of growing miniaturized trees or plants
- бонза́й (bonzáj)the art of growing miniaturized trees or plants
Catalan bonsai
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
Chinese Mandarin 盆景, 盆栽
- 盆景 (pénjǐng)a miniaturized tree or plant
- 盆栽 (pénzāi)a miniaturized tree or plant
Czech bonsai, bonsaj
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
- bonsaja miniaturized tree or plant
Danish bonsai, bonsaitræ
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
- bonsaitræa miniaturized tree or plant
- bonsaithe art of growing miniaturized trees or plants
Esperanto bonsajo
- bonsajoa miniaturized tree or plant
Finnish bonsai
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
French bonsaï, bonzaï
- bonsaïa miniaturized tree or plant
- bonzaïa miniaturized tree or plant
- bonsaïthe art of growing miniaturized trees or plants
- bonzaïthe art of growing miniaturized trees or plants
German Bonsai, Bonsaibaum
- Bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
- Bonsaibauma miniaturized tree or plant
Greek μπονσάι
- μπονσάι (bonsái)a miniaturized tree or plant
Hebrew בּוֹנְסַאי
- בּוֹנְסַאי (bónsay)a miniaturized tree or plant
Hungarian bonszai
- bonszaia miniaturized tree or plant
Icelandic dvergtré
- dvergtréa miniaturized tree or plant
Indonesian bonsai, bonsai
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
- bonsaithe art of growing miniaturized trees or plants
Italian bonsai
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
Japanese 盆栽, 盆栽の技術
- 盆栽 (bonsai)a miniaturized tree or plant
- 盆栽の技術the art of growing miniaturized trees or plants
Korean 분재
- 분재 (bunjae)a miniaturized tree or plant
Malay bonsai, bonsai
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
- bonsaithe art of growing miniaturized trees or plants
Polish bonsai
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
Portuguese bonsai, bonsai
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
- bonsaithe art of growing miniaturized trees or plants
Russian бонса́й
- бонса́й (bonsáj)a miniaturized tree or plant
Spanish bonsái
- bonsáia miniaturized tree or plant
Swedish bonsai, bonsaiträd
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
- bonsaiträda miniaturized tree or plant
Thai บอนไซ, บอนไซ
- บอนไซ (bɔɔn-sai, bɔn-sai)a miniaturized tree or plant
- บอนไซ (bɔɔn-sai, bɔn-sai)the art of growing miniaturized trees or plants
Turkish bonsai, bonsay
- bonsaia miniaturized tree or plant
- bonsaya miniaturized tree or plant
Ukrainian бонса́й
- бонса́й (bonsáj)a miniaturized tree or plant
Vietnamese bồn tài
- bồn tàia miniaturized tree or plant
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
bonsai. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bonsai
MLA
“bonsai.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bonsai. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bonsai,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bonsai.
Source: bonsai on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.