Bonsai

[bɔnˈsaɪ̯]

/[bɔnˈsaɪ̯]/ noun

The verdict

“Bonsai” is uncommon German (frequency #68,079 among 5,818 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,079
frequency rank, German
5,818
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - mit Steinen und Kies in einer Schale kunstvoll (in miniaturisierter Form) herangezogener Baum

Corpus desk

Index DE-bonsai · Bonsai · German

Bonsai · rank #68,079 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,079
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,818
  • PHOTO-FINISH bodenständigen

Nearest frequency peer: bodenständigen (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Bonsai“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Bonsai“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Bonsai
PropertyValue
HeadwordBonsai
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[bɔnˈsaɪ̯]
Letters6
Frequency rank#68,079
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Bonsai“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Bonsaifällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „bodenständigen“ (#68,078), „booking“ (#68,080), „Bodenproben“ (#68,077). Unter 5,818 „B“-Lemmata liegt „Bonsai“ bei #68,079. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Bonsai is uncommon German at frequency #68,079 among 5,818 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [bɔnˈsaɪ̯]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Bonsai, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is Bonsai, spelled B-O-N-S-A-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    mit Steinen und Kies in einer Schale kunstvoll (in miniaturisierter Form) herangezogener Baum
  2. 2
    Aus dem Japanischen: Bonsai besteht aus den beiden Wörtern 盆 (bon) ^(→ ja) ‚Schale, Schüssel‘ und 栽 (sai) ^(→ ja) ‚Pflanzen kultivieren‘. Zusammen haben die beiden Kanji 盆栽 (bonsai) ^(→ ja) die Bedeutung ‚Pflanze im Topf‘.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how Bonsai appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Der Bonsai gelangte von China über Japan nach Europa.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Bonsai"?
"Bonsai" is spelled B-O-N-S-A-I. The IPA pronunciation is [bɔnˈsaɪ̯].
What does "Bonsai" mean?
As a noun, "Bonsai" means: mit Steinen und Kies in einer Schale kunstvoll (in miniaturisierter Form) herangezogener Baum
How do you pronounce "Bonsai"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Bonsai" is [bɔnˈsaɪ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Bonsai" come from?
"Bonsai" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Bonsai", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list