Tiles & Melds

Pair

Also called: Eye, 雀頭, atama, jantou

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

A pair (sometimes called the 'eye' because it sits in the middle of the hand) is two identical tiles — same suit, same rank. A standard winning hand consists of four melds plus one pair. The exceptions are Seven Pairs (which is seven pairs and no melds) and Thirteen Orphans (one pair plus 13 singletons).

Related terms

Meld
A group of tiles that counts as a single unit in your hand — pung, chow, or kong.
Seven Pairs
An alternative winning structure: 7 distinct pairs instead of 4 melds + pair.
Thirteen Orphans
A non-standard hand: all 13 unique terminal/honor tiles + a pair of one.