KANJI: GYOKU tama (jewel, gem, ball)

ASCII Art Representation:

 
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Character Etymology:

From a pictograph of a string of beads, most likely originally jade discs. Ball is an extended meaning. The extra point _` was added to distinguish the character from the character for king, but it is dropped in the radical form of this character.

A Listing of All On-Yomi and Kun-Yomi Readings:

on-yomi: GYOKU
kun-yomi: tama tama- -dama

Nanori Readings:

Nanori: ou dan

English Definitions:

1. GYOKU: jewel], gem, precious stone, jade.
2. tama: ball, bowl, sphere, bulb; lens; gem, jewel, bullet, shot, shell; billiards; tool, cat's paw; pretty girl; person; margin (in stocks); testicles.
3. tama-: beatiful; round.

Character Index Numbers:

New Nelson: 3620
Henshall: 102

Unicode Encoded Version:

玉

Unicode Encoded Compound Examples:

玉子 (tamago): egg; spawn, roe; (an expert) in the making. (note, also: just 卵)
玉手箱 (tamatebako): Pandora's box; treasured casket.
玉虫色 (tamamushi iro): iridescence.
玉杯 (gyokuhai): jade cup.
玉突き (tamatsuki): billiards.
目玉 (medama): eyeball.

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