玉
also: だま
Meanings
A general native word for a round or spherical object. 玉 is broad; 球 highlights the physical shape as a sphere or ball.
The child rolled clay into a small ball.
Used when liquid forms visible round beads, especially sweat, dew, or tears.
Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.
sports ball; pitch
Only when written 球
Used for the ball in sports and, in baseball, for a pitched ball. 球 is especially common for this sense.
The balls he pitches are very fast.
portion of noodles; bundle of noodles
Used for a rounded portion or bundle of noodles, often counted as 一玉, 二玉, and so on.
I added one more portion of noodles to the ramen.
Only when written 弾
The projectile fired from a gun; 弾 is the normal kanji for this sense.
Load bullets into the gun.
light bulb
Only when written 球
Refers to the bulb part of a lamp or flashlight; often written 球 and somewhat old-fashioned beside 電球 or ランプ.
I replaced the bulb in the flashlight.
lens
A lens of glasses or a similar optical item. Modern everyday Japanese more often uses レンズ, so 玉 can sound specialized or old-fashioned here.
There are fine scratches on the lenses of the glasses.
abacus bead
Only when written 玉 / 珠
The movable beads on an abacus; 玉 and 珠 are both attested for this meaning.
Flick the beads of the abacus with your finger.
Only when written 玉 / 珠
A jewel-like, often round precious object. 珠 is especially associated with pearls or jewel-like beads; figurative use is possible but can sound literary.
A blue gem was set in the old ring.
She has skin like a pearl.
Rare, older use for a female entertainer such as a geisha, mainly encountered in historical or specialized contexts.
In old writing about entertainment districts, a geisha may be called 玉.
character; sort of person
Derogatory or teasing use when judging someone's nature, often in phrases such as とんだ玉 or 変な玉.
He's a real piece of work.
Only when written 玉
Limited use of 玉 for an egg, especially as the 玉 element in 玉子 and related food terms; ordinary modern standalone 'egg' is 卵 or 玉子.
See also: 卵
The 玉 in 玉子焼き represents an egg.
noun, used as a suffix, counter
okonomiyaki; okonomiyaki portion
Only when written 玉
Food-counter or suffix use in okonomiyaki names and orders, such as 豚玉 and いか玉.
See also: お好み焼き
The shop's menu lists pork okonomiyaki and squid okonomiyaki.
Only when written 玉 · Only with reading だま
Suffix meaning a coin of a given denomination, normally read だま because of rendaku in compounds such as 十円玉.
There are three ten-yen coins in my wallet.
Usage patterns
- 〈液体〉が玉になるfor a liquid to form into a bead or drop
Sweat formed into beads and ran down his forehead.
- 玉を打つto hit the ball (in a sport)
I practiced hitting the ball in golf.
- 〈数〉玉a counted portion of noodles
Please give me one portion of udon noodles.
- 玉が切れるfor a light bulb to burn out
The light bulb burned out.
- 〈数〉円玉a coin of a given yen denomination
I used a hundred-yen coin at the vending machine.