鸡肉 (jī ròu) literally means 'chicken meat' and refers specifically to the edible flesh of chickens. The first character 鸡 (jī) means 'chicken' — a common domestic bird — while 肉 (ròu) means 'meat' or 'flesh.' Together, they form a compound noun that is the standard, neutral term for chicken as food in Mandarin Chinese.

This word is used widely in daily life — on restaurant menus, in grocery stores, in cooking instructions, and in conversations about diet or meals. Unlike English, where 'chicken' can refer to both the live animal and its meat, Chinese typically distinguishes between the animal (鸡) and the food (鸡肉). It’s unmarked for formality and appropriate in both casual and formal contexts, such as ordering takeout or reading nutrition labels.