Mahjong Glossary

A set of three consecutive tiles in the same suit (e.g. 4m-5m-6m).

The three special honor tiles — White, Green, and Red — that always score.

Wind tiles (East, South, West, North) and dragon tiles (White, Green, Red).

A set of all four identical tiles (e.g. 7s-7s-7s-7s).

A group of tiles that counts as a single unit in your hand — pung, chow, or kong.

Two identical tiles. Every standard hand needs exactly one pair.

A set of three identical tiles (e.g. 5p-5p-5p).

The 2-through-8 tiles in each numbered suit.

The 1 and 9 tiles in each numbered suit.

The four directional honor tiles — East, South, West, North.

Claim a discard from the player to your left to form a chow.

Riichi-only: extra 1 han for winning within one uninterrupted turn after declaring riichi.

Declare a kong — either by claiming a discard or upgrading a pung.

Claim a discard from any player to form a pung.

Japanese-only declaration: bet 1,000 points on a closed tenpai for guaranteed yaku.

Winning by claiming the fourth tile someone added to upgrade their open pung into a kong.

Winning by claiming another player's discard — they 'dealt in' to you.

Winning by drawing your winning tile yourself from the wall.

Waiting on the middle tile of a chow — e.g. waiting on 4 to complete 3-?-5.

Waiting on the 3 to complete 1-2-? or the 7 to complete ?-8-9.

Riichi-only: you can't ron if any of your waits is in your own discard pile.

Waiting on the pair tile — only one tile completes the hand.

How many tile-swaps away from tenpai your hand is.

One tile away from completing a winning hand.

The specific tile(s) that complete your tenpai hand.

Riichi 'red five' tiles — each red 5 always counts as 1 han.

Riichi cap above haneman — 8 to 10 han, pays 2× mangan.

Riichi bonus tile — each copy in your hand adds 1 han.

MCR rule: higher-scoring patterns automatically suppress the lower ones they contain.

Hong Kong / Cantonese mahjong scoring unit. Exponential 2^faan payouts.

MCR (and Sichuan) scoring unit. Each fan pattern has a fixed point value 1-88.

Riichi's secondary scoring axis — small points for hand structure and wait shape.

Riichi scoring unit — counts each yaku in your hand.

Riichi cap above mangan — 6 or 7 han, pays 1.5× mangan.

The first Riichi score cap — usually 8,000 points (12,000 dealer).

The wind that's active for the current round — usually East, then South, etc.

Riichi cap above baiman — 11 or 12 han, pays 3× mangan.

The wind tile matching your seat — East/South/West/North relative to the dealer.

Taiwanese 16-tile mahjong scoring unit. Linear payouts.

Riichi-only: extra dora revealed only if you declared riichi and won.

Japanese-only term for a named scoring pattern. Every winning Riichi hand needs at least one yaku.

Riichi: a pung of dragons, seat wind, or round wind. Each is worth 1 han.

Riichi's limit hands — instant 13-han equivalent, payout capped at the table limit.

A winning hand consisting only of pungs (or kongs) — no chows.

MCR-only: a winning hand with no other scoring patterns gets 8 fan as Chicken Hand.

A hand with no open melds — every meld is formed from your own draws.

Every tile in the hand is in a single suit. No honors.

Every tile is from one numbered suit plus honors. Both must appear.

A hand that hits the maximum table payout — typically the rarest and most beautiful.

Concealed 1-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-9-9 in one suit + any tile of that suit. Considered the most beautiful hand.

A hand with at least one declared meld from calling chi, pon, or kan.

An alternative winning structure: 7 distinct pairs instead of 4 melds + pair.

A non-standard hand: all 13 unique terminal/honor tiles + a pair of one.

Sichuan rule: round continues after the first win until the wall runs out.

Sichuan-only: at start of round, you commit to discarding all tiles of one suit.