kendama

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese けん玉 (けんだま, kendama), from 拳 (けん, ken, “game played with the hands; fist”) or 剣 (けん, ken, “sword”) + 玉 (たま, tama, “ball”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɛnˌdɑːmə/

Noun

kendama (plural kendamas)

1. A traditional Japanese toy with an attached ball that can be caught in any of three cups or on a spike.
   • 2017 March 30, Mike Ives, “As Hong Kong Ponders Its Future Under Beijing, Politics Infuses Its Art”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     An especially haunting work, “If the Moment Came,” is a waist-high black box with a top made of wired glass and a murky interior that shows a looping video of a hand playing with a kendama, a Japanese toy featuring a wooden handle and a small ball.

Translations

Japanese toy with an attached ball

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 劍玉／剑玉 (jiànyù), 劍球／剑球 (jiànqiú), 托球 (tuōqiú)

• Hebrew: קֶנְדָמָה f (kendamá)
• Japanese: けん玉 (ja), 拳玉 (ja), 剣玉 (ja) (けんだま, kendama)
• Korean: 켄다마 (kendama)

See also

• bilboquet

Further reading

• kendama on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Japanese

Romanization

kendama

1. Rōmaji transcription of けんだま