jewel, ball
玉 centers on a precious, polished spherical object: a jewel or a ball. The two meanings are linked by the idea of a small, valuable, rounded item.
玉 is a pictograph of a string of jade pieces, with the dot 丶 added to distinguish it from 王 (king). The original form showed three pieces of jade on a string.
Picture a king's 王 treasure: a single jewel 丶 added to his crown, making 玉 a precious ball or gem.
For ギョク, imagine a giant jeweled ball that looks like a geode: geode -> ギョク. The sparkling geode ball is the king's prized jewel.
ball; sphere; globe; orb
Saitama (city, prefecture)
eyeball
onion (Allium cepa)
testicles; balls; nuts
gold and jewels; precious object
New Year's gift (usu. money given to a child by relatives and visitors)
stand-in; proxy; substitute; double; ringer
fried egg; sunny-side up fried egg
drop of water
honorable death; death without surrender; honorable defeat
throne
bad character; bad person; villain; baddie
fireball; ball of fire
white gem (esp. a pearl)
marble; glass marble
the Emperor's voice
kendama; Japanese bilboquet (cup-and-ball game)
jewel; gem
small ball; globule; bead; small vegetable or piece of fruit