yang
noun
(in Chinese philosophy and religion) the positive, bright, and masculine principle, the counterpart of yin.
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yang
American
[yahng, yang]
/ jɑŋ, jæŋ /
noun
Yang
1
British
/ jæŋ /
noun
Yang
2
British
/ jæŋ /
noun
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.
Explanation
Yang is the masculine, positive principle in Chinese philosophy. It’s associated with heaven and activity. Have you balanced your yin and yang? In Chinese philosophy, these two qualities or principles, which exist in everyone, represent femaleness (yin) and maleness (yang). Achieving a balance between the two is considered important for having a happy, healthy life. Yang has to do with maleness as well as heaven, light, activity, and warmth. The black and white symbol of yin and yang represents how they complete a whole. Yin and yang are almost always discussed together.
Vocabulary lists containing yang
Chinese History - Introductory
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Chinese History - Middle School and High School
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Chapters 3–4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Liverpool-born coach describes himself as the yin to Tuchel's yang and acknowledges their partnership can "look a bit strange at times" because of their difference in height and background.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Guy and Bruno constitute the two halves of a single personality, the yin and the yang, the superego and the id.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Seattle quarterback Geno Smith embodied the yin and yang of this wild game, throwing three beautiful touchdown passes but offsetting those with three interceptions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2024
Throughout the years Leon has remained a resident at Larry David's home, and the perfect sidekick: the yin to Larry’s yang and the only person able to balance Larry out.
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2024
Why were the two strands complementary to each other—A matched with T, and G matched with C—like a molecular yin and yang?
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
She became set on tracking down The Unburned Book by Taiwanese poet Yang Du, a bittersweet reflection on protesters who later went into exile.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Wenjing Yang, MD, PhD, research assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, was co-first author of the study.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
Yang incorporated techniques that were invented or proven by DeepSeek into Moonshot’s subsequent models.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Their hypothesis was confirmed when footage of a Ying Yang Twins performance went viral in 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Suddenly I saw that no matter how strong a Communist Yang Sze-Fu was, he missed his nails and I felt sorry for him.
From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
