ไก่
chicken
A native Thai recording for this word is on the way. Please check back soon.
- 1 chicken
- 2 chicken (meat)
This is the basic word for a chicken. In food and cooking contexts, it also refers to chicken meat.
chicken
It refers to the familiar domesticated bird kept for eggs or meat.
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เลี้ยงไก่ líaŋ kày raise chickens เลี้ยงไก่ details
chicken (meat)
In a food context, it refers to the meat of a chicken.
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ฉันกินไก่ chǎn kin kày I eat chicken. ฉันกินไก่ details
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ไม่ใส่ไก่ได้ไหม mây sày kày dâay mǎy Could you make it without chicken? ไม่ใส่ไก่ได้ไหม details
Learning notes
Explanation
The core meaning of ไก่ is a chicken as an animal. In conversations about cooking or eating, the same word naturally means chicken meat. Living chickens are counted with ตัว, the general classifier for animals. For example, ไก่สามตัว means “three chickens.” The word frequently combines with cooking terms in dish names, as in ไก่ทอด “fried chicken” and ไก่ย่าง “grilled chicken.”
Usage
It is common in conversations about farms, livestock, and eggs, and it appears very frequently when buying food or ordering chicken dishes at markets, food stalls, and restaurants.
Caution
English distinguishes a living chicken from chicken as food mainly through context, and Thai works similarly. In เลี้ยงไก่, ไก่ is the animal; in กินไก่, it normally means chicken meat.
Differences from similar words
2 chicken (meat) synonyms
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เนื้อไก่ explicitly means “chicken meat.” ไก่ alone commonly means the same thing when the context is cooking, eating, or ordering food.