たま
Meanings
Noun
1. ball; sphere; globe; orb
2. bead (of sweat, dew, etc.); drop; droplet
3. ball (in sports)
esp. 球
4. pile (of noodles, etc.)
5. bullet
esp. 弾; also written as 弾丸
6. bulb (i.e. a light bulb)
esp. 球
7. lens (of glasses, etc.)
8. bead (of an abacus)
esp. 玉,珠
9. ball (i.e. a testicle)
esp. 玉
10. gem; jewel (esp. spherical; sometimes used figuratively); pearl
esp. 玉,珠; also written as 璧
11. female entertainer (e.g. a geisha)
12. person (when commenting on their nature); character
13. item, funds or person used as part of a plot
Noun
Suffix
14. egg
Suffix
15. coin
usu. だま
16. precious; beautiful; excellent
Kanji used
ball
Pitch accent
Top 2600
Used in vocabulary (98 in total)
fireball; ball of fire; will-o'-the-wisp; jack-o'-lantern
onion (Allium cepa)
ladle; (hen's) egg
drop of water; polka dots
guts; pluck; nerve; spirit
fine jewel; article of excellent quality; beautiful woman; beauty
Urashima's casket (in the story of Urashima Tarō); Pandora's box; one's closely guarded treasure
fly in the ointment; small flaw in otherwise perfect object; only trouble; only fault
onion (Allium cepa)
ball-toss game, in which balls are thrown into a basket on a high pole (played at sports festivals)
branch of a sacred tree (esp. sakaki) with paper or cotton strips attached (used as an offering); sakaki (species of evergreen sacred to Shinto, Cleyera japonica)
black ball; black, round sigil; pupil; black candy
beads of sweat
billiards; pool; serial collisions (of cars)
bad character; bad person; villain; baddie
jeweler; (arch.) soap bubble vendor
white gem (esp. a pearl); rice flour dumpling; white-flowered camellia
man who marries a wealthy or upwardly-mobile woman; (male) gold digger
jewel beetle (esp. Chrysochroa fulgidissima); buprestid
steel made from iron sand or black sand (used in sword blades)
pebble; round stone; boulder
balancing on a ball
dupion (double cocoon formed jointly by two or more silkworms); dupioni; cocoon
fly in the ointment; small flaw in otherwise perfect object; only trouble; only fault
palanquin set with jewels; money and social status gained by marrying a rich and powerful man
skin as beautiful as a gem; beautiful skin
fly in the ointment; small flaw in otherwise perfect object; only trouble; only fault
Chinese dish with fried egg and crab
New Year ornament (usu. of straw, fern leaves, seaweed and bitter orange fruit, and hung at the entrance of a home)
soft-boiled egg marinated in soy and mirin
unpolished and uncut gem
udon with raw egg, and shoyu, dashi, etc.
thread knot (end of the thread tied up to a knot)
unpolished and uncut gem
round; spherical; globe type; lens shape
ball-shaped; spherical
fly in the ointment; small flaw in otherwise perfect object; only trouble; only fault
street performance in which the performer transforms a specially made bamboo screen into various shapes while chanting an accompanying poem
kanji "jewel" radical at left (radical 96)
miso ball; bean paste ball
bubble float (angling); bobber
ladle; (hen's) egg
palanquin set with jewels; money and social status gained by marrying a rich and powerful man
round; spherical; globe type; lens shape
slinging (on cranes, etc.)
slinging (on cranes, etc.)
football (soccer); kick to the groin; kneeing in the testicles
sugidama; ball made from sprigs of Japanese cedar, traditionally hung in the eaves of sake breweries
branch of a sacred tree (esp. sakaki) with paper or cotton strips attached (used as an offering); sakaki (species of evergreen sacred to Shinto, Cleyera japonica)
Chinese dish with fried egg and crab
skin as beautiful as a gem; beautiful skin
street performance in which the performer transforms a specially made bamboo screen into various shapes while chanting an accompanying poem
dupion silk; silk that comes from a double cocoon formed jointly by two or more silkworms
French knot
slinging (on cranes, etc.)
half portion of noodles or fried rice; half ball (of noodles)
tamaryokucha; Japanese green tea similar to gunpowder tea
era at the turn of 1960s into 70s dominated by grand champions Kitanofuji and Tamanoumi
type of woolen fabric, esp. used for overcoats
Cintamani stone; wish-fulfilling jewel
billiards; pool; serial collisions (of cars)
Chinese dish with fried egg and crab
unpolished and uncut gem
broom (esp. one for sweeping a silkworm-raising room on the first Day of the Rat of the New Year); plant used for constructing brooms (e.g. kochia); liquor; alcohol
broom (esp. one for sweeping a silkworm-raising room on the first Day of the Rat of the New Year); plant used for constructing brooms (e.g. kochia); liquor; alcohol
French knot
bubble float (angling); bobber
slinging (on cranes, etc.)
slinging (on cranes, etc.)
miso ball; bean paste ball
bubble float (angling); bobber
type of woolen fabric, esp. used for overcoats
bead string; thread of life
alias for fox (from a statue in the Inarimae shrine)
iceberg lettuce
bamboo curtain; palace
rice seedling
ball of dried, ground, fermented dyer's knotweed leaves
painted snipe (Rostratula benghalensis)
Michelia compressa (species of Japanese tree similar to champak)
Arenicola brasiliensis (species of lugworm)
tuberous sword fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia)
beautiful (as if adorned with jewels)
Tamagawa Station (Osaka)
Examples (6 in total)
The children were rolling a big snowball.
Tom's cat is playing with a ball of yarn.
Galileo dropped two iron balls from the top of the tower.