球 (qiú): ball; sphere; globe

Meanings

1 ball; sphere; globe

Characters

球

qiú

ball; sphere

王 (jade) + 求 (to seek) — a sought-after jade ball

Examples

你喜欢打球吗？

Nǐ xǐhuan dǎ qiú ma?

Do you like playing ball?

给我球。

Gěi wǒ qiú.

Give me the ball.

Tips

usage

球 appears in many sports: 足球 (soccer), 篮球 (basketball), 乒乓球 (table tennis), 网球 (tennis).

culture

Table tennis (乒乓球) is China's national sport and is sometimes called China's 'national ball' (国球). China has dominated Olympic table tennis since the sport was introduced in 1988.

Components

radical

王 yù

jade (radical form)

Left jade radical — looks like 王 (king) but is the contracted form of 玉 (jade) used in left-side position. Original meaning: a polished round jade orb. The radical preserves the ancient association of 球 with precious round stones, even as the modern meaning has generalised to any kind of ball, sphere, or globe.

phonetic

求 qiú

to seek; to beg

Right side gives the sound exactly: same syllable, same tone (qiú). Pure phonetic compound. The 'seek' meaning of 求 also makes a nice mnemonic — a 'sought-after jade' = a precious round orb, extended later to balls of any kind, including modern sports balls.