jewel

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 玉 has 5 strokes and means a bead or jewel. A dot at the lower right distinguishes it from 王.
• Basic usage: 玉 is read たま, and 水玉 is read みずたま.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Round objects and patterns
  • ガラスの玉 means a glass bead.
  • The 玉 in 赤い玉を投げ合った refers to the ball the children tossed to one another.
  • 水玉模様 is a polka-dot pattern made of repeated round spots.