下家 (xià jiā) — next person in turn (in a game, drinking round, etc.); the player to one's left (in card or mahjong games)

Definition

In card and mahjong games, 下家 is the player to your left — the one who plays immediately after you each round. The term is mainly used in the context of turn-based games and drinking games.

noun
next person in turn (in a game, drinking round, etc.)the player to one's left (in card or mahjong games)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 下家。
    Lún dào xià jiā chū pái le.
    It's the next player's turn to play a card.
  • 下家，！
    xià jiā, Gāi nǐ hē le!
    Next in line, it's your turn to drink!
  • 下家，。
    Tā shì wǒ de xià jiā, měi cì dǎ pái wǒ dōu shū gěi tā.
    He's the player to my left; every time we play cards I lose to him.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

下xiànext
家jiāhome

下 means next or lower and 家 means home or player, so it names the next person in turn.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

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