Chinese word

麻将

Pronunciation

Pinyinmá jiàng

Meaning

  • nounmahjong

Example

周末我们去朋友家打麻将吧。zhōu mò wǒ men qù péng yǒu jiā dǎ má jiàng ba

Let's go play mahjong at a friend's house this weekend.

Illustration for 麻将 (mahjong)

More examples

比赛结束后，他们在休息室开始打麻将。bǐ sài jié shù hòu tā men zài xiū xī shì kāi shǐ dǎ má jiàng

After the game ended, they started playing mahjong in the lounge.

Core concept

A four-player tile game in which players draw, discard, and combine tiles to make a winning hand.

Common phrases

  • 打麻将dǎ má jiàng

    play mahjong

  • 玩麻将wán má jiàng

    play mahjong

  • 麻将牌má jiàng pái

    mahjong tiles

Similar words

麻将牌má jiàng pái: Small tiles used to build winning patterns by arranging or discarding them.
牌pái: A small card or tile used in a game as a playing piece.

Definition in Chinese

一种群众性强的传统桌面游戏，通常四人以摸牌、吃碰杠等手段组成牌型并按规则判断胡牌胜负后结算得分。yì zhǒng qún zhòng xìng qiáng de chuán tǒng zhuō miàn yóu xì tōng cháng sì rén yǐ mō pái chī pèng gàng děng shǒu duàn zǔ chéng pái xíng bìng àn guī zé pàn duàn hú pái shèng fù hòu jié suàn dé fēn

Word origin

麻将 (májiāng, "mahjong") is commonly linked to 麻雀 (máquè, "sparrow"), with regional pronunciation and later spelling changes producing the modern form.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Mandarin, 打 (dǎ, "hit") commonly describes taking part in a game, so it functions as the usual activity verb before this noun rather than keeping its physical meaning.

Related words

  • 麻将牌má jiàng páimahjong tilenoun
  • 麻将馆má jiàng guǎnmahjong parlornoun
  • 麻将桌má jiàng zhuōmahjong tablenoun

Word lists with this word