Mahjongg
/ˈmɑː.dʒɒŋ/noun
A Chinese tile-based game for four players involving drawing, discarding, and matching or grouping tiles.
Did you know?The game was historically called 麻雀, meaning “sparrow,” possibly because the clicking tiles were imagined to sound like sparrows, though the exact naming history remains debated.
Etymological Timeline
Late Imperial China
Chinese
麻雀 (máquè)
““Sparrow”; an early name associated with the game”
19th Century
Cantonese
麻雀 (maa4 zoek3)
““Sparrow,” referring to the traditional name of the tile game”
19th Century
Chinese
麻將 (májiàng)
“The modern Chinese name of the game; commonly interpreted as “sparrow tiles,” though the exact formation is debated”
1890s
English
mah-jong
“An English borrowing of the Chinese game’s name”
Early 20th Century
English
mah-jongg
“A variant English spelling popularized in American usage”
Modern English
English
mahjongg
“A standardized or variant spelling of mahjong, the Chinese tile game”