Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bonsai

/ˈbɑnsaɪ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.79 in modern English

Syllables: bon-sai
IPA: /ˈbɑnsaɪ/

8

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A tree or plant that has been miniaturized by planting it in a small pot, restricting its roots, and by careful pruning.

Countable

noun

The art of planting and growing trees or plants in such a manner.

Uncountable

verb

To make into a bonsai by restricting the roots and pruning.

Transitive verb

intj

Misspelling of banzai.

Example Sentences

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

Etymology

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

Origin

Source language: Japanese

Word Breakdown

Root: 盆栽, -

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈbɑnsaɪ/
British English: /ˈbɒnsaɪ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

bonsais (plural) bonsais (present, singular) bonsaiing (participle, present) bonsaied (participle, past) bonsaied (past)

Derived Forms

prebonsai

Phrases

bonsai army

Rhymes With

by my why high try guy buy july drive-by die eye hi

Questions

How do you pronounce bonsai?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈbɑnsaɪ/.
What does bonsai mean?: A tree or plant that has been miniaturized by planting it in a small pot, restricting its roots, and by careful pruning.
Where does bonsai come from?: It is traced to Japanese.

How to pronounce bonsai

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “bonsai”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈbɑnsaɪ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “bonsai”.
Repeat and practice — Say “bonsai” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.