Dictionary — ontologydriven

mahjong en · INTJ

Pronunciation

/mɑˈʒɑŋ/ (cot-caught-merger)
(US) audio
/mɑːˈʒɒŋ/
/mɑˈʒɔŋ/ (US)
/mɑˈd͡ʒɔŋ/ (US)
/mɑːˈd͡ʒɒŋ/
/mɑˈd͡ʒɑŋ/ (cot-caught-merger)

Etymology

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

Meanings

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

Forms

Spelling	Labels	Source
majiang	alternative	lexicographic
mah-jong	alternative	lexicographic
Mah Jong	alternative	lexicographic
mah-jongg	alternative	lexicographic
mah jongg	alternative	lexicographic
mahjongg	alternative	lexicographic

mahjong en · NOUN

Pronunciation

/mɑˈʒɑŋ/ (cot-caught-merger)
(US) audio
/mɑːˈʒɒŋ/
/mɑˈʒɔŋ/ (US)
/mɑˈd͡ʒɔŋ/ (US)
/mɑːˈd͡ʒɒŋ/
/mɑˈd͡ʒɑŋ/ (cot-caught-merger)

Etymology

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

Meanings

(uncountable) A game (originally Chinese) for four players, using a collection of tiles divided into five or six suits.
- 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. 2003, Neil Humphreys, “The Thief”, in Scribbles from the Same Island, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, published 2006, →ISBN, page 185:
- My usual mahjong kaki. 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:
- Miss Ganett drank coffee whilst Caroline got out the Mah Jong box and poured out the tiles upon the table. 1926, Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd:
- Ho Sau-Mei, one of Hong Kong’s last mahjong tile carvers, is getting old. 2025 July 27, Kathleen Magramo, “The game is almost over for one of Hong Kong’s last mahjong carvers”, in CNN, archived from the original on 31 Jul 2025:
(uncountable) A solitaire game using the same tiles, where the player wins by removing pairs of matching exposed tiles until none remain.

Forms

Spelling	Labels	Source
mahjongg	alternative	lexicographic
mah-jong	alternative	lexicographic
mah-jongg	alternative	lexicographic
mah jongg	alternative	lexicographic
majiang	alternative	lexicographic
Mah Jong	alternative	lexicographic

Deriveds

riichi mahjong

Synonyms

mahjong solitaire (a solitaire game)

Translations (39)

ko 마장 (game for four players) · chr ᎹᏦᎦ (game for four players) · vi mạt chược (game for four players) · nan-hbl 麻雀 (game for four players) · nl mahjong (game for four players) · mn маажаан (game for four players) · ru мадзя́н (game for four players) · th ไพ่นกกระจอก (game for four players) · yue 麻雀 (game for four players) · ug ماجاڭ (game for four players) · ru мацзя́н (game for four players) · hy մահջոնգ (game for four players) · ja 麻将 (game for four players) · af mah-jongg (game for four players) · cmn 麻雀 (game for four players) · pt majongue (game for four players) · pt mahjong (game for four players) · chr ᎹᏦᏂᎩ (game for four players) · nl matjok (game for four players) · za mazcoz (game for four players) · eo maĝango (game for four players) · pl madżong (game for four players) · de Mah-Jongg (game for four players) · ja 麻雀 (game for four players) · ko 마작 (game for four players) · id mahyong (game for four players) · uk маджонг (game for four players) · hak 麻雀 (game for four players) · fi mahjong (game for four players) · ru маджо́нг (game for four players) · af mahjong (game for four players) · af mahjongg (game for four players) · tl madyong (game for four players) · fr mah-jong (game for four players) · es mahjong (game for four players) · cmn 麻將 /麻将 (game for four players) · my မာကျောက် (game for four players) · ar مَا جُونْغ (game for four players) · hu madzsong (game for four players)