Although yen suggests no more than a strong desire these days (as in "a yen for a beach vacation"), at one time someone with a yen was in deep trouble: the first meaning of yen was an intense craving for opium. The word comes from Cantoneseyīn-yáhn, a combination of yīn, meaning "opium," and yáhn, "craving." In English, the Chinese syllables were translated as yen-yen.
Noun (2)
I have a strange yen to take the day off from work Verb
what car lover doesn't yen for a new car at the start of every model year
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Noun
By 1957, the threshold of the 55% tax rate had risen to 10 million yen – thirty-three times higher.—Nathan Lewis, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025 As reported by The Athletic, an agreement for the 20-year-old Japan international was reached for £5million ($6.8m, 1billion Japanese yen), which represents a record fee for a player in the J League — the top division of Japanese football — moving overseas.—Jay Harris, New York Times, 8 July 2025 The Japanese yen, South Korean won and South African rand all weakened against the dollar.—John Towfighi, CNN Money, 8 July 2025 Afternoon tea is huge in Tokyo, with diners shelling out nearly 90 billion yen each year to nibble scones and petit-fours.—Jessica Kozuka, Travel + Leisure, 6 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for yen
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
Japanese en
Noun (2)
obsolete English argot yen-yen craving for opium, from Chin (Guangdong) yīn-yáhn, from yīn opium + yáhn craving
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