Character Of The Day

Qiú. In honor of the beginning of the NFL season, along with the U.S. Open (tennis), today’s character means ball, sphere, or globe. Since many things in this world of ours and beyond are round, it’s a popular character. Let’s take a look at it in action.

球迷 – qiúmí means sports fan
球门 – qiúmén means goal (the object itself)
球网 – qiúwǎng means net (like in tennis or badminton)
网球 – wǎngqiú means tennis
打球 – dǎqiú means to play (a sport involving a ball)
台球 – táiqiú means pool or billiards
球鞋 – qiúxié means tennis shoes or sneakers
罚球 – fáqiú means penalty shot or free throw
棒球 – bàngqiú means baseball
桌球 – zhuōqiú means table tennis or ping pong
乒乓球 – pīngpāngqiú also means table tennis or ping pong
保龄球 – bǎolíngqiú means bowling
足球 – zúqiu means soccer
垒球 – lěiqiú means softball
篮球 – lánqiú means basketball
排球 – páiqiú means volleyball
冰球 – bīngqiú means hockey or puck
伽篮球 – gālánqiu means football or rugby. It’s not in either of the dictionaries I use, but Microsoft Pinyin 3.0 IME recognizes it as these characters, and I’m sure it’s pronounced this way.
球赛 – qiúsài means ballgame or match

Ok. So these are uses of 球(qiú) only pertaining to sports. It’s also used for terms related to biology (like blood cells) and astronomy (planets, moons, etc.). So, I hope you enjoyed this sporting edition of COTD, and I hope you are enjoying the sports, unless you are a New England fan, of course. Take it easy.