bonsain.adj.
/ˈbɒnsʌɪ/, /ˈbɒnzʌɪ/, /ˈbəʊnsʌɪ/, U.S. /ˈbɑnˌsaɪ/, /ˈbɑnˌzaɪ/, /(ˌ)bɑnˈsaɪ/ A. n.
1.
a. The practice of cultivating ornamental, artificially dwarfed trees and shrubs which are grown in containers and pruned so as to resemble mature, full-sized plants. Cf. nanization n.Although bonsai is typically associated with Japanese culture, the practice originated in China and later spread throughout southeast Asia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > cultivated or valued > [noun] > dwarfed tree or bonsai
bonsai1899
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > cultivated or valued > [adjective] > dwarfed or bonsai
bonsai1899
1899 Exhib. Japanese Floral & Arboreal Plants 23–4 May (Amer. Art Assoc., N.Y.) 77 Trained by the famous Bonsai specialist, Genbei of Tokio.
1922 Gardeners' Chron. Amer. Jan. 18/1 The secret of the delight of ‘bonsai’ lies in the reproduction of a piece of natural scenery in a tiny spot.
1963 Times 6 Feb. 12/3 Bonsai is now attracting many admirers in Britain.
1990 Garden News 21 Nov. 26/3 If you know someone who would like to try their hand at bonsai, the starter kits offered by Salmesbury Bonsai Nursery are ideal.
2008 P. L. Morris in P. L. Morris & S. W. Saphire Growing Bonsai Indoors 6 The art of bonsai has been embraced and extended to many species of American trees.
b. More fully bonsai tree, bonsai plant, etc. An ornamental tree or shrub cultivated by this method.
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1899 Exhib. Japanese Floral & Arboreal Plants 23–4 May (Amer. Art Assoc., N.Y.) 101 This is a truly fine model of the Bon Sai, having a form distinctly natural and yet having decided artistic merit, both of which are essential characteristics of the Bon Sai.
1923 Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail 26 Feb. 4/4 These tiny trees are grown especially in Japan. They're called Bonsai dwarf plants.
1950 N. Kobayashi (title) Bonsai—miniature potted trees.
1960 Times 4 Jan. 13/4 Sales of bonsai plants.
1974 E. Bowen Henry & Other Heroes vii. 134 Clipping off consonants with the ruthless precision of a Japanese gardener pruning his bonsai shrubs.
1994 Amer. Spectator Feb. 106/3 Felipe González, the sherpa who amazingly has become the Spanish head of state, cultivates bonsais, which suggests fastidiousness and contemplation.
2017 L. Khadivi Good Country xxi. 129 Mr. and Mrs. Haas. Retirees. Proud keepers of bonsai trees and Japanese moss gardens.
2. figurative. A small-scale or stunted version of something; (occasionally) something carefully shaped or controlled.
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1983 Washington Post 1 May (Mag.) 41 A town house is a peace treaty between urban congestion and suburban sprawl. It is the American dream on a diet, the bonsai of the ramblers and ranches.
1996 Los Angeles Times 13 Oct. a1 Cynical or poignant, the tiny poems are literary bonsai, trendy evidence of the traditional Japanese genius for manicuring natural (and human) anarchy into art.
2013 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 26 Sept. 44/1 The effect on human beings is to stunt their capacity for emotional or intellectual development, to turn them into grotesque human bonsai.
B. adj. (attributive).
Small-scale, miniature; tiny.
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the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [adjective] > small-scale
miniature1714
small-scale1852
small-scale1872
bonsai1971
1971 San Diego Mag. Feb. 106/2 We walked to a beautiful waterfall—a bonsai version of Yosemite's Bridal Veil Falls.
1988 J. McPhee in New Yorker 26 Sept. 74/3 The institution as a whole, in its remarkable beauty and surprisingly compact size, is sort of a bonsai university.
1997 Car Mar. 131/1 The driving range of all three cars is hampered by bonsai fuel tanks, all of which hold less than 60 litres.
2018 Evening Standard (Nexis) 1 Mar. 37 A replica of an industrial brewery on a bonsai scale.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.adj.1899