mahjong

See also: mah-jong

English

Alternative forms

• majiang
• mah-jong
• mahjongg, mah-jongg, mah jongg
• Mah Jong

Etymology

From Mandarin 麻將／麻将 (májiàng), derived from 麻雀 (máquè, “sparrow”) with a Wu diminutive suffix /ŋ̍/.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑːˈd͡ʒɒŋ/, /mɑːˈʒɒŋ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /mɑˈd͡ʒɔŋ/, /mɑˈʒɔŋ/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /mɑˈd͡ʒɑŋ/, /mɑˈʒɑŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒŋ

Noun

mahjong (uncountable)

2. A game (originally Chinese) for four players, using a collection of tiles divided into five or six suits.
   • 1926, Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd:

     Miss Ganett drank coffee whilst Caroline got out the Mah Jong box and poured out the tiles upon the table.

   • 2000, Dennis Wee, Sylvia Fong, Making Luck with Your Hands, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore, page 59:

     My usual mahjong kaki.

   • 2003, Neil Humphreys, “The Thief”, in Scribbles from the Same Island, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, published 2006, →ISBN, page 185:

     While most of the country has spent the weekend counting hongbaos and mahjong tiles, those guys have been out there salvaging hongbaos and half of Thomson Road.

   • 2025 July 27, Kathleen Magramo, “The game is almost over for one of Hong Kong’s last mahjong carvers”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Ho Sau-Mei, one of Hong Kong’s last mahjong tile carvers, is getting old.

4. A solitaire game using the same tiles, where the player wins by removing pairs of matching exposed tiles until none remain.

Synonyms

• (a solitaire game): mahjong solitaire

Derived terms

• riichi mahjong

Translations

game for four players

• Afrikaans: mahjong (af), mah-jongg (af), mahjongg (af)
• Arabic: مَا جُونْغ m (mā jūnḡ)
• Armenian: մահջոնգ (mahǰong)
• Burmese: မာကျောက် (my) (ma-kyauk)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 麻雀 (yue) (maa⁴ zoek³, maa⁴ zoek^3-2)

  Hakka: 麻雀 (mà-chiok)

  Hokkien: 麻雀 (zh-min-nan) (môa-chhiok, mâ-chhiok, bâ-chhiok)

  Mandarin: 麻將 / 麻将 (zh) (májiàng), 麻雀 (zh) (máquè) (rare)

• Dutch: mahjong (nl) n, matjok (nl) n (Suriname)
• Esperanto: maĝango
• Finnish: mahjong (fi)
• French: mah-jong (fr) m
• German: Mah-Jongg (de) n
• Hungarian: madzsong (hu)
• Indonesian: mahyong (id)
• Japanese: 麻雀 (ja) (mājan), 麻将 (ja) (マージャン, mājan)
• Korean: 마작(麻雀) (majak), 마장(麻將) (ko) (majang)
• Mongolian: маажаан (maažaan)
• Polish: madżong (pl)
• Portuguese: mahjong (pt) m, majongue (pt) m
• Russian: маджо́нг (ru) m (madžóng), мацзя́н m (maczján), мадзя́н m (madzján)
• Spanish: mahjong (es) m
• Tagalog: madyong
• Thai: ไพ่นกกระจอก (th) (pâi-nók-grà-jɔ̀ɔk)
• Ukrainian: маджонг (madžonh)
• Uyghur: ماجاڭ (majang)
• Vietnamese: mạt chược (vi) (麻雀 (vi))
• Zhuang: mazcoz

mahjong solitaire — see mahjong solitaire

See also

• Appendix:Unicode/Mahjong Tiles

Interjection

mahjong

2. A call declaring a winning hand in the game of mahjong.

Usage notes

Among players of the Japanese variant of mahjong, it is more common to use the Japanese-derived terms ron and tsumo.

Dutch

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from English mahjong, from Mandarin 麻將／麻将 (májiàng).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maːˈjɔŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɔŋ

Noun

mahjong n (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. mahjong

Interjection

mahjong

1. mahjong, a call declaring a winning hand in the game of mahjong.

Finnish

Etymology

From English mahjong, from Cantonese 麻將／麻将 (maa4 zoeng3).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑhdʒoŋ/, [ˈmɑ̝x.dʒo̞ŋ]
• Rhymes: -ɑhdʒoŋ

Noun

mahjong

1. mahjong (game for four)
2. mahjong (solitaire)

Declension

Inflection of mahjong (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		mahjong	mahjongit
genitive		mahjongin	mahjongien
partitive		mahjongia	mahjongeja
illative		mahjongiin	mahjongeihin
		singular	plural
nominative		mahjong	mahjongit
accusative	nom.	mahjong	mahjongit
	gen.	mahjongin
genitive		mahjongin	mahjongien
partitive		mahjongia	mahjongeja
inessive		mahjongissa	mahjongeissa
elative		mahjongista	mahjongeista
illative		mahjongiin	mahjongeihin
adessive		mahjongilla	mahjongeilla
ablative		mahjongilta	mahjongeilta
allative		mahjongille	mahjongeille
essive		mahjongina	mahjongeina
translative		mahjongiksi	mahjongeiksi
abessive		mahjongitta	mahjongeitta
instructive		—	mahjongein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of mahjong (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative mahjongini mahjongini accusative nom. mahjongini mahjongini gen. mahjongini genitive mahjongini mahjongieni partitive mahjongiani mahjongejani inessive mahjongissani mahjongeissani elative mahjongistani mahjongeistani illative mahjongiini mahjongeihini adessive mahjongillani mahjongeillani ablative mahjongiltani mahjongeiltani allative mahjongilleni mahjongeilleni essive mahjonginani mahjongeinani translative mahjongikseni mahjongeikseni abessive mahjongittani mahjongeittani instructive — — comitative — mahjongeineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative mahjongisi mahjongisi accusative nom. mahjongisi mahjongisi gen. mahjongisi genitive mahjongisi mahjongiesi partitive mahjongiasi mahjongejasi inessive mahjongissasi mahjongeissasi elative mahjongistasi mahjongeistasi illative mahjongiisi mahjongeihisi adessive mahjongillasi mahjongeillasi ablative mahjongiltasi mahjongeiltasi allative mahjongillesi mahjongeillesi essive mahjonginasi mahjongeinasi translative mahjongiksesi mahjongeiksesi abessive mahjongittasi mahjongeittasi instructive — — comitative — mahjongeinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative mahjongimme mahjongimme accusative nom. mahjongimme mahjongimme gen. mahjongimme genitive mahjongimme mahjongiemme partitive mahjongiamme mahjongejamme inessive mahjongissamme mahjongeissamme elative mahjongistamme mahjongeistamme illative mahjongiimme mahjongeihimme adessive mahjongillamme mahjongeillamme ablative mahjongiltamme mahjongeiltamme allative mahjongillemme mahjongeillemme essive mahjonginamme mahjongeinamme translative mahjongiksemme mahjongeiksemme abessive mahjongittamme mahjongeittamme instructive — — comitative — mahjongeinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative mahjonginne mahjonginne accusative nom. mahjonginne mahjonginne gen. mahjonginne genitive mahjonginne mahjongienne partitive mahjongianne mahjongejanne inessive mahjongissanne mahjongeissanne elative mahjongistanne mahjongeistanne illative mahjongiinne mahjongeihinne adessive mahjongillanne mahjongeillanne ablative mahjongiltanne mahjongeiltanne allative mahjongillenne mahjongeillenne essive mahjonginanne mahjongeinanne translative mahjongiksenne mahjongeiksenne abessive mahjongittanne mahjongeittanne instructive — — comitative — mahjongeinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative mahjonginsa mahjonginsa accusative nom. mahjonginsa mahjonginsa gen. mahjonginsa genitive mahjonginsa mahjongiensa partitive mahjongiaan mahjongiansa mahjongejaan mahjongejansa inessive mahjongissaan mahjongissansa mahjongeissaan mahjongeissansa elative mahjongistaan mahjongistansa mahjongeistaan mahjongeistansa illative mahjongiinsa mahjongeihinsa adessive mahjongillaan mahjongillansa mahjongeillaan mahjongeillansa ablative mahjongiltaan mahjongiltansa mahjongeiltaan mahjongeiltansa allative mahjongilleen mahjongillensa mahjongeilleen mahjongeillensa essive mahjonginaan mahjonginansa mahjongeinaan mahjongeinansa translative mahjongikseen mahjongiksensa mahjongeikseen mahjongeiksensa abessive mahjongittaan mahjongittansa mahjongeittaan mahjongeittansa instructive — — comitative — mahjongeineen mahjongeinensa

Further reading

• “mahjong”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

Portuguese

Etymology

From English mahjong, from Mandarin 麻將／麻将 (májiàng), derived from 麻雀 (máquè, “sparrow”) with a Wu diminutive suffix /ŋ̍/.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): (most common) /maˈʒõ.ɡi/, (after English, or after Japanese 麻雀 (mājan)) /ˈma.d͡ʒõ/, /ˈma.d͡ʒɐ̃/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): (most common) /maˈʒõ.ɡi/, (after English, or after Japanese 麻雀 (mājan)) /ˈma.d͡ʒõ/, /ˈma.d͡ʒɐ̃/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): (most common) /maˈʒõ.ɡe/, (after English, or after Japanese 麻雀 (mājan)) /ˈma.d͡ʒõ/, /ˈma.d͡ʒɐ̃/

Noun

mahjong m (uncountable)

1. mahjong (Chinese tile game)

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English mahjong, from Chinese 麻將 / 麻将 (májiàng).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaxt͡ʃon/ [ˈmax.t͡ʃõn]
  • Rhymes: -axtʃon
• IPA^(key): /ˈmat͡ʃon/ [ˈma.t͡ʃõn]
  • Rhymes: -atʃon

Noun

mahjong m (uncountable)

1. mahjong (Chinese tile game)

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English mahjong, from Chinese 麻將 / 麻将 (májiàng).

Noun

mahjong c

1. mahjong (Chinese tile game)

Declension

Declension of mahjong

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	mahjong	mahjongs
	definite	mahjongen	mahjongens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Further reading

• mahjong in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker