List of terminology by usage category
Given the multitude of Japanese terminology in the game, many terms are used in association with each other. For example, a separate set of terms are dedicated to the yaku, as names for each pattern.
Game rounds
| Enchousen
「延長戦」 |
Extra game round, in the event where no player scores more than the target points at the end of a normal game. |
| Hanchan
「半荘」 |
A game consisting of an East and South round. |
| Honba
「本場」 |
A counter to indicate the number of hands in-between winning hands, usually indicated by 100-point sticks. |
| Kyoku
「局」 |
A portion of the game, starting from the dealing of tiles and ends with the declaration of a win, aborted hand, or draw. Examples: East Round 1. South Round 2. |
| Oorasu
「オーラス」 |
The final regular hand of a game. |
| Tonpuusen
「東風戦」 |
A game consisting of an East only round. |
Rule specific
| Ari
「あり,アリ,有り」 |
States that the preceding rule is used, as in akadora ari for playing with red fives. Opposite of nashi. |
| Ari ari
「アリアリ」 |
Ruleset which allows kuitan and atozuke. Most common basic set of rules in Japan. |
| Atozuke
「先付け」 |
Allows a hand to win despite having no guaranteed yaku while in tenpai, as long as the winning tile generates a yaku. Opposite of sakizuke. |
| Chombo
「冲合」 |
A penalty that results in a mangan payment and restarts the current round. |
| Furiten
「振聴」 |
A rule that disables a player's ability to win by discard, due to the presence of a winning tile in the discard and/or the declining of a win during riichi. |
| Kuikae
「喰い替え」 |
A rule that allows you to call a tile, then discard another tile that could have completed the meld. For example, to chi 123 and discard a 4. |
| Kuitan
「喰い断」 |
A rule that allows tanyao to be open. |
| Nashi
「なし,ナシ,無し」 |
States that the preceding rule is not in effect.
|
Scoring
| Akadora
「赤ドラ」 |
Tiles marked red to indicate as dora, regardless of the dora indicator. Typically used for the 5's of the three suits. |
| Aotenjou
「青天井」 |
A rarely used rule, which eliminates the score cappings mangan, haneman, etc., and scores all hands as directly with the scoring formula. |
| Baiman
「倍満」 |
A hand of value 8, 9, or 10 han. |
| Dora
「ドラ」 |
A specific tile type, that is assigned 1 han per tile as indicated by the dora indicator(s). |
| Fu
「符」 |
A set of points associated to tile composition: melds, wait patterns, and winning conditions. |
| Han
「飜」 |
A value counter associated with values assigned to yaku and dora (if in possession). |
| Haneman
「跳満」 |
A hand of value 6 or 7 han. |
| Honba
「本場」 |
A counter indicating the number of consecutive hands played without a winning hand by any player. |
| Mangan
「満貫」 |
A point cap applied to the regular scoring scale. A hand value of 3 han 70 fu, 4 han 40 fu, or 5 han. |
| Nomi
「ノミ」 |
A term to indicate a hand won with just one particular yaku, without combination with another or any dora. |
| Sanbaiman
「三倍満」 |
A hand value of 11 or 12 han. |
| Tenbou
「点棒」 |
Point sticks used for manual scoring. |
| Ura dora
「裏ドラ」 |
Additional dora located underneath previously revealed dora indicators, which can be earned by winning with riichi. |
| Yaku
「役」 |
Specific patterns that validates hands as winnable. |
| Yakuman
「役満」 |
The limit point value for a hand. A set of patterns whose value is set at this limit. |
Seating
| Kamicha
「上家」 |
Player seated to the left, relative to a player of reference. |
| Oya
「親」 |
Dealer seat, who is designated as East. |
| Shimocha
「下家」 |
Player seated to the right, relative to a player of reference. |
| Toimen
「対面」 |
Player seated across, relative to a player of reference. |
Strategic and tactical terms
| Damaten
「黙聴」 |
A tactic of holding tenpai without calling riichi. |
| Genbutsu
「現物」 |
A 100% safe tile. |
| Kabe
「壁」 |
A tile-counting technique that measures the possibility of someone making shuntsu based on how many instances of a tile are visible. |
| Suji
「筋」 |
The tiles that complete ryanmen (open waits). Means “muscle”. |
Tiles
Main article: Mahjong equipment
Manzu
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Ii wan | Ryan wan | San wan | Suu wan | Uu wan | Roo wan | Chii wan | Paa wan | Chuu man |
Souzu
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Ii sou | Ryan sou | San sou | Suu sou | Uu sou | Roo sou | Chii sou | Paa sou | Chuu sou |
Pinzu
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Ii pin | Ryan pin | San pin | Suu pin | Uu pin | Roo pin | Chii pin | Paa pin | Chuu pin |
Jihai
Kazehai
 |
 |
 |
|
| Ton | Nan | Shaa | Pei |
Sangenpai
 |
 |
|
| Haku | Hatsu | Chun |
Tile categories
| Jihai
「字牌」 |
Character tiles (sangenpai and kazehai). |
| Routouhai
「老頭牌」 |
The tiles numbered 1 and 9. |
| Tanyaohai
「断幺牌」 |
The tiles numbered 2 through 8. Also “chunchan”. |
| Yaochuuhai
「幺九牌」 |
All tiles numbered 1 and 9 (routouhai) plus characters (jihai). |
Tile calls
| Agari
「和がり」 |
Generic call for winning a hand. |
| Chii
「チー、吃」 |
A call making a claim to upgrade a pair of identical tiles, to a minjun (open sequence). |
| Naki
「鳴き」 |
Calling a discarded tile. |
| Kan
「カン、槓」 |
A call declaring possesion of four identical tiles. |
| Pon
「ポン、碰」 |
A call making a claim to upgrade a pair of identical tiles to an open set of three identical tiles (minkou). |
| Ron
「ロン」 |
A call to indicate a winning hand by discard |
| Tsumo
「ツモ、自摸」 |
A call to indicate a winning hand by self-draw |
Tile groups
| Mentsu
「面子」 |
The groups: koutsu, shuntsu, and kantsu. |
Types
| Ankan
「暗槓」 |
Four self-drawn identical tiles set aside as a kantsu. Declaring an ankan does not open the hand if it was previously closed. |
| Anjun
「暗順」 |
Three self-drawn consecutive tiles of the same suit, used as one of the four melds in a regular hand. An open sequence would be a minjun, the general term for a sequence is shuntsu. |
| Ankan
「暗槓」 |
Four self-drawn identical tiles set aside as a kantsu. Declaring an ankan does not open the hand if it was previously closed. |
| Ankou
「暗刻」 |
Three self-drawn identical tiles, used as one of the four melds in a regular hand. Compare with the yaku names san ankou and suu ankou. An open triplet would be a minkou, and the general term for any triplet is koutsu. |
| Chakan
「加槓」 |
A kantsu that was upgraded from a minkou. |
| Daiminkan
「大明槓」 |
A kan formed with possession of three tile types, and calling on the discarded fourth tile. |
| Kantsu
「槓子」 |
A meld of four identical tiles, which must be declared as kan to be counted as such. |
| Minjun
「明順」 |
An open shuntsu, or a sequence of three consecutive tiles, formed by calling chii on the previously missing tile. A concealed shuntsu would be an anjun. |
| Minkou
「明刻」 |
An open koutsu made by calling a discarded tile. |
| Shuntsu
「順子」 |
This is the generic term for, three consecutive tiles of the same suit, whether open or closed. Chii is used to call a tile to complete a shuntsu and set it aside as a minjun (open). A concealed (closed) shuntsu is an anjun. |
Wait patterns
Main article: Machi
| Machi
「待ち」 |
The tiles waiting for with a tenpai hand. |
| Noten
「ノーテン」 |
When your hand is not in tenpai at the end of the round. |
| Tenpai
「聴牌」 |
A hand that needs only one tile to win. |
Named patterns
| Kanchan
「嵌張」 |
A wait pattern needing the middle number of a sequential meld. |
| Nobetan
「延べ単」 |
A wait pattern needing to complete one of two possible pairs. |
| Penchan
「辺張」 |
A wait pattern to complete a terminal based sequential meld. |
| Ryanmen
「両面」 |
A wait pattern using two consecutive numbered tiles, where the meld is completed by a tile one less than the lower numbered tile or one greater than the higher numbered tile. |
| Ryanmenten
「」 |
A open wait pattern extend to include the third octave. |
| Sanmentan
「」 |
A wait pattern utilizing three pair waits, needing to pair any one of them. |
| Shanpon
「腹ボテ」 |
A two wait pattern involving two groups of paired tiles, where one of either completes the hand. |
| Tanki
「単騎」 |
A wait based off of a single tile, needing another. |
Yaku
Main article: List of yaku
| Yaku
「役」 |
A required scoring pattern or condition in the hand that awards han. |
Yaku
| Chankan
「搶槓」 |
The winning tile for a hand is called on another player's added kan. Essentially, the tile needed to complete a kan is stolen to complete a winning hand. |
| Chanta
「全帯幺九」 |
All melds contain at least 1 terminals or honor. |
| Chiitoitsu
「七対子」 |
This hand is composed of seven pairs. It is one of two exceptions to the standard 4 melds and a pair pattern. |
| Chinitsu
「清一色」 |
This hand is composed entirely of tiles from only one of the three suits. It is the only yaku set at 6 han, where the number drops to 5 han when opened. |
| Double riichi
「ダブルリーチ」 |
Riichi is declared with a dealt hand before the first discard. |
| Haitei raoyue
「海底撈月」 |
The hand is completed with the last tile on the wall. |
| Honitsu
「混一色」 |
This is a single suit hand mixed with some honor tiles. |
| Honroutou
「混老頭」 |
The hand is composed of nothing but all terminals and honors. † This hand may be considered as 4 han, because it is impossible to score this hand without either chii toitsu or toi toi. |
| Houtei raoyui
「河底撈魚」 |
The hand is completed with the very last discarded tile. |
| Iipeikou
「一盃口」 |
This hand includes two identical sequences. |
| Ittsu
「一通貫」 |
This hand has a complete sequence of 1 through 9 of a single suit. As a note, the sequence of 1-9 are actually three groups of sequences numbered 123, 456, and 789. |
| Junchan
「純全帯么」 |
All sets contain at least one terminal. |
| Menzen tsumo
「門前清自摸和」 |
This yaku may apply to any closed hand. Any player who draws a winning tile with a closed hand is awarded this yaku. |
| Nagashi mangan
「流し満貫」 |
All the discards are terminals and/or honors. In addition, none of these discards were called by other players. |
| Pinfu
「平和」 |
Typically known as "all sequences", this is a hand that does not gain fu based on composition, other than that of a closed ron. |
| Riichi
「立直」 |
This is a special yaku applied to closed tenpai hands, which requires the player to make a declaration and "wager". |
| Ippatsu
「一発」 |
This is applied when the player calling riichi wins within 4 tile draws/discards. In addition, the cycle must not be interrupted by tile calls. |
| Rinshan kaihou
「嶺上開花」 |
This yaku is awarded upon winning with a tile from the dead wall. |
| Ryanpeikou
「二盃口」 |
This hand has two sets of "iipeikou". This hand does not combine with chii toitsu, even though the hand can be interpreted as one. |
| Sanankou
「三暗刻」 |
The hand includes three sets of triplets that have been formed without calling any tiles. The fourth set can be an open triplet or sequence. |
| Sankantsu
「三槓子」 |
Three kans are called for this hand. |
| Sanshoku
「三色同順」 |
Three sequences have the same number across the three different suits. |
| Sanshoku doukou
「三色同刻」 |
The hand includes three groups of triplets with the same number. |
| Shousangen
「小三元」 |
The hand contains two sets of 3 dragon tiles and a pair of the third dragon tiles. † This hand may be considered as 4 han, because it is impossible to score this hand without two sets of yakuhai, from the two sets of dragons. |
| Tanyao
「断幺九」 |
A hand composed of only inside (numbers 2-8) tiles |
| Toitoi
「対々」 |
The entire hand is composed of triplets. |
| Yakuhai
「役牌」 |
A hand with at least one group of dragon tiles, seat wind, or round wind tiles. This hand can be valued at 1 han for each group. |
Yakuman
Main article: Yakuman
This is a specific set of "yaku", known as yakuman.
| Chiihou
「地和」 |
The non-dealer hand is a winning hand after the first draw. |
| Chinroutou
「清老頭」 |
Every group of tiles are composed of terminal tiles. |
| Chuuren poutou
「九連宝燈 |
A hand consisting of the tiles 1112345678999 in the same suit plus any one extra tile of the same suit. |
| Daisangen
「大三元」 |
This has possesses three groups of all the dragons. |
| Daisuushi
「大四喜」 |
This hand has four groups of all four wind tiles. |
| Kazoe yakuman
「数え役満」 |
This is a special class of yakuman, where a hand is composed of 13+ han based on the combination of above regular yaku and/or dora. |
| Kokushi musou
「国士無双 |
This hand has one of each of the 13 different terminal and honor tiles plus one extra terminal or honour tile. Some rules may allow double yakuman for a 13-wait set. |
| Ryuuiisou
「緑一色」 |
A hand composed entirely of green tiles: 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 Sou and/or Hatsu. |
| Shousuushi
「小四喜」 |
This hand has three groups of the wind tiles plus a pair of the fourth kind. |
| Suuankou
「四暗刻 |
This hand is composed of four sets of closed triplets. When this hand has a shanpon pattern and the win is via ron, then it would not be counted as suu ankou. |
| Suukantsu
「四槓子」 |
This hand with four Kan's. |
| Tenhou
「天和」 |
The dealer hand is a winning hand even before discarding a tile. |
| Tsuuiisou
「字一色」 |
Every group of tiles are composed of honor tiles. |