Standard Lemma guide

kendama

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈkɛnˌdɑːmə/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A traditional Japanese toy with an attached ball that can be caught in any of three cups or on a spike.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

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”).

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 劍玉 /剑玉 (jiànyù) — Japanese toy with an attached ball
  • Chinese Mandarin: 劍球 /剑球 (jiànqiú) — Japanese toy with an attached ball
  • Chinese Mandarin: 托球 (tuōqiú) — Japanese toy with an attached ball
  • Hebrew: קֶנְדָמָה (kendamá) — Japanese toy with an attached ball
  • Japanese: けん玉 — Japanese toy with an attached ball
  • Japanese: 拳玉 — Japanese toy with an attached ball
  • Japanese: 剣玉 (kendama) — Japanese toy with an attached ball
  • Korean: 켄다마 (kendama) — Japanese toy with an attached ball
  • Spanish: kendama — Japanese toy with an attached ball