Key Facts
- Hangul: 치킨; Revised Romanization: chikin
- Part of speech: noun
- Origin: loanword
- Register: Neutral; in Korea 치킨 almost always means fried chicken, often ordered for delivery.
Fried Chicken in Korean: What Does 치킨 Mean?
치킨 means fried chicken, and in Korea that sense dominates: a plain 치킨 is a whole fried chicken, usually ordered for delivery. The register is neutral. For chicken as an animal or a raw ingredient, Korean uses other words, covered in the comparison below.
How Do You Pronounce 치킨?
Two syllables, chi-kin. Both ㅊ and ㅋ are aspirated, released with a puff of air, and the final ㄴ is a plain n.
Example Sentences with 치킨
오늘 저녁에 치킨을 먹어요.
Oneul jeonyeoge chikineul meogeoyo
We are eating fried chicken this evening.
오늘 저녁에 sets the time, this evening. 먹어요 says "eat".
치킨 한 마리 시킬까요?
Chikin han mari sikilkkayo
Shall we order a chicken?
한 마리 uses the counter for animals, so the whole bird is the unit. 시킬까요 is a suggestion form meaning "shall we order".
치킨은 맥주와 잘 어울려요.
Chikineun maekjuwa jal eoullyeoyo
Fried chicken goes well with beer.
The sentence pairs food with a drink using 와. 잘 어울려요 means they go well together.
Common Phrases and Collocations
치킨을 시키다 is ordering fried chicken and 치킨 한 마리 is one whole chicken. 양념치킨 is sauced chicken and 후라이드 치킨 is the plain fried kind. Menus write 후라이드 치킨, but the standard spelling is 프라이드치킨.
| Korean | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 치킨을 시키다 | to order fried chicken |
| 치킨 한 마리 | one whole chicken |
| 양념치킨 | seasoned (sauced) fried chicken |
| 후라이드 치킨 | fried chicken |
The Mistake to Avoid
Wrong: 치킨 for raw chicken meat in a recipe or at the butcher's.
Correct: 닭고기. 치킨 mostly means the fried dish; the meat itself is 닭고기, and the live bird is 닭.
치킨 Compared with Similar Words
| Word | Meaning | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| 치킨 | fried chicken | The cooked, fried dish |
| 닭 | chicken (bird) | The animal, also used in many dish names |
| 치맥 | fried chicken and beer | A clipped compound of 치킨 and 맥주 |
| 닭고기 | chicken meat | The raw meat you cook with |
Where Does the Word Come From?
치킨 is a loanword from English "chicken". In Korean its meaning narrowed to the fried dish.
Cultural Note
Ordering 치킨 for delivery, often together with beer, is a very popular casual meal in Korea.
Ordering Chicken to Take Home
A customer orders at a chicken shop. The staff member checks whether the order is for delivery or collection.
Customer
양념치킨 한 마리 주세요.
Yangnyeomchikin han mari juseyo.
One whole sauced fried chicken, please.
Staff
배달해 드릴까요?
Baedalhae deurilkkayo?
Would you like it delivered?
Customer
아니요. 포장해 주세요.
Aniyo. Pojanghae juseyo.
No. To go, please.
Staff
네, 잠시만 기다려 주세요.
Ne, jamsiman gidaryeo juseyo.
Okay, please wait a moment.
한 마리 gives the quantity, and 주세요 makes the order a polite request. 배달 asks about delivery to another location. 포장 asks the shop to pack the food for takeaway. Those choices concern how the food reaches you; they do not change the type of chicken you ordered.
How Do Chicken Menus Describe the Choices?
반반 means half and half. On a chicken menu, it commonly offers two flavors in one order, such as plain fried chicken and 양념치킨. Read which two flavors the particular item includes. The word describes the split; it does not tell you every ingredient or how hot the sauce will be.
순살 means boneless meat. In a 치킨 menu category, it tells you that you are choosing boneless chicken rather than pieces with bones. It does not specify a single cut of meat. A flavor name and 순살 answer different questions: the sauce or seasoning, and whether there are bones.
간장치킨 is chicken flavored with a soy-sauce-based sauce. The 간장 part means soy sauce. Compare it with 양념치킨, whose familiar menu meaning is the red sauced variety. Even when a label sounds mild, the recipe can vary, so the dish name alone is not a full ingredient list.
Where Will You Hear 치킨?
Friends use 치킨을 시키다 when deciding to order food for a shared evening. 시키다 has other meanings, but with a dish as its object it commonly means ordering it. 주문하다 is another ordering verb that fits at a counter or on a delivery screen.
치맥 combines the opening syllables of 치킨 and 맥주, “beer”. It names the pairing rather than a special chicken recipe. A person can order 치킨 with a soft drink instead; the chicken word itself does not imply alcohol. In conversation, an invitation for 치맥 suggests both parts of the combination.
Related Words for Completing the Order
| Korean | Meaning | Useful note |
|---|---|---|
| 배달 | delivery | The food is brought to another location. |
| 포장 | packing / takeaway | At a food counter, it means taking the packed order away. |
| 순살 | boneless meat | A menu choice about bones rather than flavor. |
| 치킨무 | pickled radish served with chicken | The radish side often pictured with an order. |
The Korean dishes lesson adds more dish names. For ordering and service words, continue with restaurant vocabulary.
Quick Self-Test
- Which asks for takeaway: 포장 or 배달?
- Does 순살 tell you the sauce flavor?
- What two words form 치맥?
Show answers
- 포장 asks for takeaway; 배달 means delivery.
- No. It tells you the chicken is boneless.
- 치킨 and 맥주: fried chicken and beer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you say "fried chicken" in Korean?
Fried chicken in Korean is 치킨 (chikin), borrowed from English "chicken". In Korea the word almost always means fried chicken, often ordered for delivery.
How do you ask to order one?
Use 치킨을 시키다, "to order fried chicken". To suggest it to friends, say 치킨 한 마리 시킬까요?, "Shall we order a chicken?" 마리 is the counter for animals, so one whole chicken is 한 마리.
What is 양념치킨?
양념치킨 is fried chicken coated in a sweet, spicy red sauce. 양념 means seasoning or sauce, which sets it apart from plain fried chicken, 후라이드 치킨.
Does 치킨 mean chicken meat?
Not usually. In Korea 치킨 means the fried dish. Chicken as a raw ingredient is 닭고기, and the live bird is 닭.
Related Words and What to Learn Next
- Theme list: Korean dish words. 치킨 shares that list with other dishes.
- Index: look up more words near "fried chicken" in Korean words A to Z.
- Practice: the word for fried chicken fits into the vocabulary flashcard decks.
- Next in this list, see the page for gimbap.
- Compare with the page for chicken as the bird.
- Also compare with the page for chicken meat.