Pai Gow
/ˌpaɪ ˈɡaʊ/noun
A Chinese domino game traditionally played with a set of 32 tiles, also used as the basis for a modern casino card game.
Did you know?Pai Gow’s name is written 牌九, using a character associated with cards or gaming pieces and the character for nine; its exact early history is debated, but the game was established in southern Chinese gambling culture by the nineteenth century.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Chinese
Chinese
牌
“A card, gaming piece, or tile”
Classical Chinese
Chinese
九
“Nine”
19th Century
Cantonese
牌九 (paai4 gau2)
“The name of a Chinese domino or tile game”
19th–20th Century
English
pai gow
“An English rendering of the Cantonese game name”
20th Century
American English
pai gow poker
“A casino card game adapted from the traditional tile game”
Modern English
English
pai gow
“The traditional domino game or, by extension, its casino variants”