# 球 — sphere; ball

球 means “sphere; ball”. It is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 11 strokes. On'yomi: キュウ (kyuu). It has no common kun'yomi. You'll see it in words such as 球 (kyuu, “sphere; globe”).

- Meaning: sphere; ball
- On'yomi: キュウ (kyuu)
- Kun'yomi: —
- Strokes: 11
- Level: JLPT N3 · set Things 1

## How to remember 球

The king (王) seeks (求) a perfectly round jewel: a sphere.

Sounds like 求: both read キュウ.

Parts: 王 king · 求 seek

## Words with 球

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 球 | きゅう (kyuu) | sphere; globe |

## Don't confuse it with

[国](https://moji.ninja/n5-kanji/country/) · [注](https://moji.ninja/n4-kanji/pour/) · [柱](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/pillar/) · [泳](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/swim/)

## More in the “Things 1” set

[機](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/machine/) · [球](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/sphere/) · [席](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/seat/) · [針](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/needle/) · [管](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/pipe/)

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/sphere/. Last updated 2026-11-01.