yang

American  

[yahng, yang] / yɑŋ, yæŋ /

noun

1. (in Chinese philosophy and religion) the positive, bright, and masculine principle, the counterpart of yin.

---

Yang ¹ British  

/ jæŋ /

noun

1. See Yin and Yang

---

Yang ² British  

/ jæŋ /

noun

1. Chen Ning (ˈtʃɛn ˈnɪŋ). born 1922, US physicist, born in China: with Tsung-Dao Lee, he disproved the physical principle known as the conservation of parity and shared the Nobel prize for physics (1957)

---

Usage

What else does yang mean? Yang is a common Chinese surname.It also refers to a cosmic force present in ancient Chinese philosophy, typically associated with masculinity, sunlight, and the color white.

Example Sentences

She described the two disparate beats as a way of staying balanced, her yin and yang.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2026

"We are quite different people - very much yin and yang - but I think decisions are better made with two brains rather than one as it stops hubris," says Begg, who is London-based.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2026

There is a yin and yang to that.

From Salon • Mar. 25, 2025

We grow up to discover there are names in every culture for that — yin and yang, the Apollonian and Dionysian, Vishnu and Shiva, thesis and antithesis, the law of contraries, the dialectic.

From New York Times • Feb. 12, 2024

With imagined tragedy hovering over us, we became inseparable, two halves creating the whole: yin and yang.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan