mah-jong

\ma.ʒɔ̃ɡ\

/\ma.ʒɔ̃ɡ\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“mah-jong” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Jeu de plateau d’origine chinoise, où quatre joueurs doivent réaliser des combinaisons de tuiles nommées chow, pung et kong.

Key facts for mah-jong
PropertyValue
Headwordmah-jong
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ma.ʒɔ̃ɡ\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mah-jong” sits in French frequency

mah-jong falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mah-jong is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ma.ʒɔ̃ɡ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for mah-jong, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is mah-jong, spelled M-A-H---J-O-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Jeu de plateau d’origine chinoise, où quatre joueurs doivent réaliser des combinaisons de tuiles nommées chow, pung et kong.
  2. 2
    Tuiles de ce jeu.

This word in other languages

mahjong(English)mahjong(Español)Mah-Jongg(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mah-jong"?
"mah-jong" is spelled M-A-H---J-O-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is \ma.ʒɔ̃ɡ\.
What does "mah-jong" mean?
As a noun, "mah-jong" means: Jeu de plateau d’origine chinoise, où quatre joueurs doivent réaliser des combinaisons de tuiles nommées chow, pung et kong.
How do you pronounce "mah-jong"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mah-jong" is \ma.ʒɔ̃ɡ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mah-jong" come from?
"mah-jong" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “mah-jong”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is M-A-H---J-O-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ma.ʒɔ̃ɡ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list