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Kanji Detail for 玉 - "jewel, beautiful"

玉

  • Meaning

    玉 means "jewel, beautiful." Also associated with to treasure.

    1. Jewel - A precious gem; a beautiful stone.

    2. Beautiful - Splendid; magnificent; gem-like in beauty.

    3. To treasure - To treat with care; to make precious.

    4. Honorific - Added to names to show respect.

    5. Pearl - Something round like a jewel; a precious sphere.

    6. King piece - A piece in shogi (Japanese chess).

    7. Egg - A term for bird eggs used in restaurants.

  • Words using 玉

    • 目玉 めだま Listen eyeball; special feature; centerpiece
    • 替え玉 かえだま Listen stand-in; proxy; substitute
    • お年玉 おとしだま Listen New Year's gift (usu. money given to a child by relatives and visitors)
    • 玉虫色 たまむしいろ Listen iridescent colour; equivocal (reply, statement, etc.); ambiguous
    • 目玉商品 めだましょうひん Listen bargain goods; loss leader; eye-catching goods
    • 埼玉 さいたま Listen Saitama (city, prefecture)
    • ビー玉 ビーだま Listen marble; glass marble
    • シャボン玉 シャボンだま Listen soap bubble

  • Four-character idioms with 玉

    • 金科玉条 きんかぎょくじょう Listen golden rule (basic principle ensuring success in some activity)
    • 玉石混交 ぎょくせきこんこう Listen mixed bag; mixture of good and bad; jumble of wheat and chaff
    • 象箸玉杯 ぞうちょぎょくはい Listen living a lavish lifestyle
    • 金枝玉葉 きんしぎょくよう Listen member of the Imperial family; royalty; beautiful clouds
    • 金殿玉楼 きんでんぎょくろう Listen magnificent palace
    • 金烏玉兎 きんうぎょくと Listen sun and moon

  • Tattoo check: 玉

    • Verified meaning: jewel, beautiful
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read おく, ぎよく, たま, たまさき)
    • Also carries these associations: to treasure

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 玉

    Given names 玉(たま)Listen 玉(ひかる)Listen

    Surnames 玉(おく)Listen 玉(ぎよく)Listen 玉(たまさき)Listen 玉(たまざき)Listen

  • Compare with other kanji that mean the same thing:

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    jewel; ball

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    jade, precious stone, gem

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    jade

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    jade, gem, precious stone

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    Beautiful stone. Carved to completion. Since ancient times considered a precious object. Such as gui and zhang tablets. | Used as a metaphor for beauty. As in 玉面 (jade face), 玉貌 (jade appearance). Calling someone's photograph 玉照. | Metaphor for nobility. As in 玉體 (your body), 玉趾 (your feet). | To perfect. (Book of Odes) "The king wishes to perfect you."

  • Onyomi

    tip

    gyoku(ギョク) ギョク

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    dama(だま) だま

    tama(たま) たま

  • Strokes

    tip

    5 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    玉 王 (tama・tamahen・o・ohen)

  • Related Keywords

    jewel beautiful to treasure admirable egg honorific king piece pearl round ball sphere gem attractive bead crystal diamond elegant exquisite globe gorgeous lovely marbles mineral orb ornament precious pretty pure

Sentences including 玉

  • Jeweler! Locksmith!

  • Look, will-o'-the-wisps!

  • I hate onions.

  • I chopped some onions.

  • Adversity makes a man wise, not rich.

  • I don't like to eat onions.

  • This candy is too big.

  • I chopped some onions.

  • I come from Saitama.

  • Fried eggs are a morning staple.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 玉 王 (tama・tamahen・o・ohen)

See all kanji with this radical →

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