Mahjong
/ˈmɑːdʒɒŋ/noun
A Chinese tile game usually played by four people using 144 decorated tiles.
Did you know?The name is commonly linked to 麻雀, meaning “sparrow,” although scholars debate whether the bird reference describes the tiles’ sound, imagery, or an earlier regional name.
Etymological Timeline
Late Qing period
Chinese
麻雀
““Sparrow”; a proposed earlier form associated with the game’s name”
19th Century
Cantonese
麻將
“A regional form of the game’s name, pronounced roughly ma4 zoeng3”
Late 19th–Early 20th Century
Mandarin
麻將
“The Chinese name for the tile game, pronounced májiàng”
1890s–1910s
English
mah-jong
“Early English transliteration used for the Chinese tile game”
1920s
English
mahjongg
“A popularized English spelling, especially in American commercial usage”
Modern English
English
mahjong
“The standardized modern English form of the Chinese tile game”