<p>Both checkers link to <strong>Collins Dictionary</strong>. This is what the online Scribble based on. If a word is in Collins Dictionary, it is valid.</p>
<p>I tried a few words with long history in English.</p>
<p>Ketchup, cheongsam, sampan, kumquat, kowtow, likin, lychee, longan and cumshaw are valid.</p>
<p>Chopsuey and kungfu are not accepted. Maybe they are also commonly written as chop suey and kung fu, with syllable separated by space. Similarly bokcloy, pakchoi, pokchoy, choysum, choisum, choisam, fungshui are invalid.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-10T19:45:46.987Z
2024-04-10T19:45:46.987Z
OmniBus
<p>No chinese word is valid in the official scrabble rules, as it is a game based on valid english words.</p>
<p>That said, every language has borrow words from other languages, and english words with chinese etymology are no exception.  Not only will you see some like you have mentioned, but you will also see words like joss or brainwash that are chinese origin but not represented in the form of pinyin, I recommend looking up words with chinese etymology in general if this is a topic of interest for you. （╹◡╹）</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-31T18:29:51.277Z
Yeah, this question seems completely unrelated to Scrabble!
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-05T18:07:09.700Z
The ultimate origin of "joss" is actually Portuguese "deus" via a Chinese pidgin language.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-06T07:21:13.253Z
@StumpyJoePete the etymology of joss is not fully confirmed, and there is more than one theory.  The theory I personally believe is that it is from cantonese deity word directly, becuase there is no actual strong logic for it to travel through portuguese in the middle. --主神 is one possibility.  regardless its chinese origin which is all that matters for the discussion here :)
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-07T02:53:20.387Z
I mean, you're welcome to disagree w/me, but the "deus" theory is that the word is _not_ of Chinese origin. Rather the Portuguese applied their word for god to all the random folk-religious things they found in China (note that "joss paper" and "joss sticks" in Chinese do not share any part of their name w/each other) and "joss" is just that word reflected back via Chinese pronunciation.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-07T16:58:29.360Z
@StumpyJoePete ? you literally just said it yourself that it entered english through chinese? that is the only thing relevant here and being discussed, we have no disagreement.
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-07T18:49:35.550Z
Sorry, I thought you were saying that in either theory the ultimate origin was Chinese (not true), but actually you were saying that in either case the proximate origin was Chinese (true). Got it now.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-25T06:27:27.480Z
2023-12-25T06:27:27.480Z
zagrycha
<p>Update: PINYIN and PUTONGHUA are also valid</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-04T11:53:02.993Z
2024-04-04T11:53:02.993Z
Tong
<p>WUSHU 武術 and WUXIA 武俠 are also accepted
QINGHAOSU 青蒿素 is another</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-28T15:48:01.627Z
2024-03-28T15:48:01.627Z
Tong
<p>Generally, if you can't find a word in most of the major English dictionaries, you should consider it invalid.</p>
<p>Scrabble has its own <a href="https://scrabblewordfinder.org/dictionary-checker" rel="nofollow noreferrer">dictionary checker online</a>, which is the ultimate authority on what words are accepted and what words are not in the game.</p>
<p>I knew 叩头 (<a href="https://scrabblewordfinder.org/dictionary/kotow" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kotow</a>) is a valid word, and I've just found out that 二胡 (erhu) is a valid word too. I didn't think it was before because it is not found in the dictionaries I checked</p>
<p>From this fact, I concluded even a valid Scrabble word might not be officially accepted by English dictionaries</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-28T19:46:23.073Z
2023-11-28T20:03:03.730Z
2023-11-28T20:03:03.730Z
Tang Ho
<p>I've been playing a bit of Scrabble recently, and it seems there's a few Chinese words which are considered valid:</p>
<ul>
<li>LI 里 (the unit of distance)</li>
<li>QI 气 (&quot;vital energy&quot;)</li>
<li>QIN 琴 (musical instrument; not 秦 which is a proper noun)</li>
<li>PIPA 琵琶 (musical instrument)</li>
<li>GUQIN 古琴 (musical instrument) [Collins only]</li>
<li>ERHU 二胡 (musical instrument) [Collins only]</li>
<li>QIGONG 气功 (method for cultivating 气)</li>
<li>GOJI <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goji" rel="nofollow noreferrer">枸杞</a> (berry; gǒuqǐ)</li>
<li>BAO 包 (as in 包子 or steamed buns) [Collins only]</li>
<li>BAIJIU 白酒 (alcoholic drink) is <a href="https://youtu.be/21R4HDmsAso?si=ZSZVFX0D9t5J5q1L&amp;t=275" rel="nofollow noreferrer">being added to the Collins dictionary</a></li>
</ul>
<p>So these are considered (for the purposes of Scrabble) English words imported from Chinese; loanwords, I suppose.</p>
<p>(You can check their validity e.g. <a href="https://scrabble.collinsdictionary.com/check/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> or <a href="https://playscrabble.com/dictionary" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.)</p>
<p>Mostly just out of curiosity, I'm wondering if there's any more for this list.  I'm guessing there'll be more, especially musical instruments, vegetable names, lunar calendar terms (?), etc.</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: What are the Chinese words which are valid in Scrabble?</p>
<p>Feel free to go beyond Mandarin Chinese; I'm just not familiar with non-Mandarin Chinese.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-01T21:32:18.973Z
I guess you would have to include Tea, which was originally Min dialect
河南宝宝
<games>
What are the Chinese words which are valid in Scrabble?
# What are the Chinese words which are valid in Scrabble?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-11-28)

I've been playing a bit of Scrabble recently, and it seems there's a few Chinese words which are considered valid:

* LI 里 (the unit of distance)
* QI 气 ("vital energy")
* QIN 琴 (musical instrument; not 秦 which is a proper noun)
* PIPA 琵琶 (musical instrument)
* GUQIN 古琴 (musical instrument) [Collins only]
* ERHU 二胡 (musical instrument) [Collins only]
* QIGONG 气功 (method for cultivating 气)
* GOJI [枸杞](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goji) (berry; gǒuqǐ)
* BAO 包 (as in 包子 or steamed buns) [Collins only]
* BAIJIU 白酒 (alcoholic drink) is [being added to the Collins dictionary](https://youtu.be/21R4HDmsAso?si=ZSZVFX0D9t5J5q1L&t=275)

So these are considered (for the purposes of Scrabble) English words imported from Chinese; loanwords, I suppose.

(You can check their validity e.g. [here](https://scrabble.collinsdictionary.com/check/) or [here](https://playscrabble.com/dictionary).)

Mostly just out of curiosity, I'm wondering if there's any more for this list. I'm guessing there'll be more, especially musical instruments, vegetable names, lunar calendar terms (?), etc.

**Question**: What are the Chinese words which are valid in Scrabble?

Feel free to go beyond Mandarin Chinese; I'm just not familiar with non-Mandarin Chinese.

**Tags:** games
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I guess you would have to include Tea, which was originally Min dialect  

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## 5 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-04-10. Score: 1

Both checkers link to **Collins Dictionary**. This is what the online Scribble based on. If a word is in Collins Dictionary, it is valid.

I tried a few words with long history in English.

Ketchup, cheongsam, sampan, kumquat, kowtow, likin, lychee, longan and cumshaw are valid.

Chopsuey and kungfu are not accepted. Maybe they are also commonly written as chop suey and kung fu, with syllable separated by space. Similarly bokcloy, pakchoi, pokchoy, choysum, choisum, choisam, fungshui are invalid.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2023-12-25. Score: 1

No chinese word is valid in the official scrabble rules, as it is a game based on valid english words.

That said, every language has borrow words from other languages, and english words with chinese etymology are no exception. Not only will you see some like you have mentioned, but you will also see words like joss or brainwash that are chinese origin but not represented in the form of pinyin, I recommend looking up words with chinese etymology in general if this is a topic of interest for you. （╹◡╹）

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Yeah, this question seems completely unrelated to Scrabble!  
> **username_5**: The ultimate origin of "joss" is actually Portuguese "deus" via a Chinese pidgin language.  
> **username_3**: @StumpyJoePete the etymology of joss is not fully confirmed, and there is more than one theory.  The theory I personally believe is that it is from cantonese deity word directly, becuase there is no actual strong logic for it to travel through portuguese in the middle. --主神 is one possibility.  regardless its chinese origin which is all that matters for the discussion here :)  
> **username_5**: I mean, you're welcome to disagree w/me, but the "deus" theory is that the word is _not_ of Chinese origin. Rather the Portuguese applied their word for god to all the random folk-religious things they found in China (note that "joss paper" and "joss sticks" in Chinese do not share any part of their name w/each other) and "joss" is just that word reflected back via Chinese pronunciation.  
> **username_3**: @StumpyJoePete ? you literally just said it yourself that it entered english through chinese? that is the only thing relevant here and being discussed, we have no disagreement.  
> **username_5**: Sorry, I thought you were saying that in either theory the ultimate origin was Chinese (not true), but actually you were saying that in either case the proximate origin was Chinese (true). Got it now.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2024-04-04. Score: 1

Update: PINYIN and PUTONGHUA are also valid


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### Answer by username_6 on 2024-03-28. Score: 1

WUSHU 武術 and WUXIA 武俠 are also accepted
QINGHAOSU 青蒿素 is another


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2023-11-28. Score: 1

Generally, if you can't find a word in most of the major English dictionaries, you should consider it invalid.

Scrabble has its own [dictionary checker online](https://scrabblewordfinder.org/dictionary-checker), which is the ultimate authority on what words are accepted and what words are not in the game.

I knew 叩头 ([Kotow](https://scrabblewordfinder.org/dictionary/kotow)) is a valid word, and I've just found out that 二胡 (erhu) is a valid word too. I didn't think it was before because it is not found in the dictionaries I checked

From this fact, I concluded even a valid Scrabble word might not be officially accepted by English dictionaries


---

