bonsai
Portuguese, noun/bõˈsaj/
bonsai is spelled B-O-N-S-A-I (6 letters) and appears about once in every 2 million words in written Portuguese, the 46,230th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Bonsai is a Portuguese masculine noun meaning “bonsai (a miniaturised tree or plant)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “planta em miniatura feita a partir de uma técnica japonesa que, geralmente aplicada em árvores ou arbustos…”.
What does bonsai mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinebonsai (a miniaturised tree or plant)
- 2
masculinebonsai (the art of growing miniaturised trees or plants)
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
noun: 1. planta em miniatura feita a partir de uma técnica japonesa que, geralmente aplicada em árvores ou arbustos, reduz a dimensão, sem modificar as características principais dessas plantas 2. essa técnica ou arte de reduzir o tamanho de plantas
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of bonsai
- bonsais plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce bonsai?
- Brazil /bõˈsaj/
- Brazil [bõˈsaɪ̯]
- Portugal /bõˈsaj/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to bonsai
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is bonsai in Portuguese?
bonsai appears about once in every 2 million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).