Reference

Mahjong Glossary

Search Mahjong definitions, aliases, and links to the rules for all eight modes.

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Core Structure

Tile

A single Mahjong piece in your hand or on the table.

Suit

Dots, Bamboo, or Characters tile families.

Honor

Wind or Dragon tiles.

Terminal

A 1 or 9 tile in a suit.

Simple Tile

Suit tile values 2 through 8.

Set

A complete tile group used in winning shape.

Pair

Two identical tiles used as the eye.

Concealed Hand

A hand with no meld opened from another player’s discard; a concealed quad may still count as concealed depending on the rule.

Open Hand

A hand containing at least one meld called from another player’s discard.

Tenpai

A ready hand one tile away from winning.

Wall / Live Wall

The face-down tiles players normally draw from; the live wall excludes any reserved dead-wall section.

Wall, Live Wall

Dealer

The player assigned East for the current hand and usually responsible for the opening discard.

East

Hand and Round

A hand is one deal from setup to win or draw; a round is a larger sequence of hands, often associated with a prevailing wind.

Hand, Round

Meld

A completed sequence, triplet, or quad; a meld may be concealed or exposed.

Group, Set

Wait

The tile or tiles that would complete a ready hand.

Noten

A hand that is not in Tenpai when a draw is resolved.

River / Discard Pool

The visible tiles a player has discarded, normally kept in order.

River, Discard Pool

Turn and Claim Actions

Draw

Taking one tile from the wall on your turn.

Discard

Releasing one tile from your hand after draw.

Claim

Interrupt action using another player discard.

CHOW

The app action for exposing a sequence of three consecutive suited tiles.

Chow, Chi, Chii, Sequence

PONG

The app action for exposing a triplet of identical tiles.

Pong, Pon, Pung, Triplet

KONG

The app action for declaring a quad of four identical tiles.

Kong, Kan, Quad

WIN

The Simplified Chinese app label for winning from another player’s discard.

SELF-DRAW-WIN

The Simplified Chinese app label for winning on your own draw.

HU

The HKOS, MCR, and Taiwanese app label for winning from another player’s discard.

ZIMO

The HKOS, MCR, and Taiwanese app label for winning on your own draw.

RON

The Riichi term and app action for winning from another player’s discard.

Ron

TSUMO

The Riichi term and app action for winning on your own draw.

Tsumo

Dead Wall

Reserved tiles used for indicators/replacements in some variants.

Claim Priority

Rule order resolving simultaneous claim rights.

Scoring Terms

Score

The value of a winning hand after the rules for that mode are checked.

Eligibility

The rule a hand still has to meet before you can win.

Fan/Faan

Hong Kong style scoring units for hand value.

Point Gate

Minimum point threshold required in a mode.

Pattern

Recognized scoring hand feature in a ruleset.

Bonus Tile

A tile or bonus that adds value without always making the hand winnable on its own.

Seat Wind

Wind assigned by current seat position.

Round Wind

Current prevailing wind of the round.

False Hu

An invalid win declaration: the hand fails its shape, eligibility, or other ruleset requirement.

Riichi Terms

Yaku

The scoring pattern that makes a Riichi hand winnable.

Han

A Riichi value unit contributed by yaku and bonus sources such as dora.

Fu

Riichi minipoints used in final scoring calculation.

Riichi Declaration

Ready-hand declaration that locks hand shape.

Dora Indicator

Shown tile that points to bonus-value tile.

Ura Dora

Hidden bonus indicators revealed after riichi win.

Ippatsu

A one-han Riichi yaku for winning within the first uninterrupted turn cycle after declaring.

Furiten

A Riichi state that blocks Ron because a winning tile is in your river, you passed a legal Ron, or you passed after declaring Riichi.

Honba

A repeat-hand counter that adds a configured bonus to Riichi payments.

Riichi Stick

The 1,000-point stake placed on the table when a player declares Riichi.

Riichi Bet

Red Five / Aka Dora

A red-colored five tile that counts as dora in profiles that enable it.

Red Five, Aka Dora

MCR and HKOS Terms

Flower Replacement

Immediate replacement draw after revealing a flower tile.

Chicken Hand

MCR special valid 8-point path when non-flower score is zero.

Non-Flower Points

The MCR points that count toward the minimum before flower bonuses are added.

Wall Exhaustion

Round ending when no more live wall draws remain.

Filipino and Taiwanese Terms

Tai

Taiwanese Mahjong scoring unit counted additively after a legal hand is complete.

Todas

Filipino Mahjong discard win payout term.

Bunot

Filipino Mahjong self-draw win payout term.

Secret Kong

Filipino concealed-kong side payment.

Siete Pares

Filipino winning structure of seven suited pairs and one three-tile set, totaling 17 tiles.

16-Tile Hand

Hand structure used in Filipino and Taiwanese Mahjong, holding 16 tiles and winning with a 17th tile.

Vietnamese Terms

Ù

Vietnamese Mahjong win declaration, equivalent to Mahjong or Hu.

Tự Ù

Vietnamese Mahjong self-draw win declaration, equivalent to Tsumo or Zimo.

Phán

Vietnamese scoring unit assigned to patterns, matching seat flowers, and replaced jokers; six Phán convert to one Mủn.

Mủn

Vietnamese payout unit: six Phán convert to one Mủn, worth 32 single or 64 double points. Further Mủn add the same rates.

Đền

Vietnamese liability rule requiring a qualifying feeder to cover payments for all losers.

Nhảy Joker

Replacing a joker in your own exposed Pong with its natural tile; the joker moves to your bonus area and you draw a replacement.

160-Tile Deck

The Classic Vietnamese set: 136 suited/honor tiles, 16 numbered flowers, seven true jokers, and Đại Hoa.