玖
beautiful black jewel, nine
JLPTN1StatusJinmeiyōStrokes7
Readings
On'yomi
- キュウ
- ク
Kun'yomi
—
Nanori
- たま
- き
- ひさ
Meaning
玖 centers on a beautiful black jewel, and is also used as a formal or financial numeral for nine.
Study
Etymology
玖 combines 王 (jade/jewel) with 久, which likely contributes the sound. The character originally referred to a black jade-like stone, and later was borrowed as a formal numeral for nine.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 王 is a jewel, and the right side 久 looks like a person bending over a dark stone. Picture a beautiful black jewel being polished until it shines.
Reading mnemonic
For キュウ, imagine a beautiful black jewel shaped like the number nine (9), and you say 'cue' when you see it: cue -> キュウ, and the jewel is a nine.