球 — ball / sphere

Grade 3きゅう, たま

Radical ⽟ · radical 96 The building block this kanji is filed under

球 (readings: きゅう, たま; Japanese kanji) means “ball / sphere”. It is a Grade 3 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 3 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 地球 (the Earth).

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What does 球 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	球
Meaning	ball / sphere
Readings	きゅう, たま
Grade	Grade 3 (Medium)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	地球 (the Earth)

How to read 球

球 is read きゅう or たま depending on the word.

Words with 球

地球ちきゅうtrái đất
野球やきゅうbóng chày
球場きゅうじょうsân bóng
球児きゅうじcầu thủ trẻ
籠球bóng rổ

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Read this character in a real sentence

Updated: 2026-08-09