球 is also the simplified spelling of 毬.
DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
球
Mandarin · pinyin qiú
Meanings
Characters in this entry
- 球
- qiú · ball, sphere, globe; round
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
2 · qiu2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link47same-tone records4source references
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
kau4
Cantonese word readings for 球. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
character · Etymology 1
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) fine jade
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) percussion instrument made of jade
- ball; globe; orb
- (mathematics) ball; solid sphere
- earth; globe
- ball (in sports) (Classifier: 個／个 m)
- ball game
- Classifier for spherical objects, such as balls of string.
- (cooking) meat in small curling pieces
- (botany) short for 仙人球 (xiānrénqiú, “ball-shaped cactus”)
- (abbreviation, alt-of) short for 球根 (qiúgēn, “bulb, corm, tuber”)
- (slang) testicle
- (dialectal Mandarin, Jin, vulgar) Expletive. Often used in the form of ……個球(…… my ass). Underlying meaning may be "testes".
- (Cantonese, colloquial) million dollars
- (medicine, attributive) bulbar
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack