yen1
[yen]
- an aluminum coin and monetary unit of Japan, equal to 100 sen or 1000 rin. Symbol: ¥; Abbreviation: Y
- a former silver coin of Japan.
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Origin of yen1
yen2
[yen]Informal.
- a desire or craving: I had a yen for apple pie.
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- to have a craving; yearn.
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Origin of yen2
1905–10, Americanism; probably < dialectal Chinese (OAGuangdong) yáhn, akin to Chinese yǐn craving, addiction
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
desire, urge, itch, hankering, longing, hunger, thirst, lust, yearning, passion, cravingExamples from the Web for yen
Contemporary Examples
Day tickets at Asahidake (www.wakasaresort.com) cost 4,000 yen.
Lift Tickets: Day tickets at Niseko (www.niseko.ne.jp) are 5,900 yen, during the high season; multi-day passes are available.
Her yen for juxtaposition of pretty and ugly, water and tar, public and private, can be seen in the smallest moments.
The value of the yen is falling exactly as planned, and Japanese stocks on the Nikkei are doing very well.
He says his payments include 100,000 yen a month for “mental damage.”
Fukushima Nuclear Cleanup Bogged Down in Bureaucracy, Could Take DecadesLennox Samuels
March 11, 2013
Historical Examples
Yen Sin held it up before his eyes in the full glow of the lamp.
I am sure he did not see me on the bench; he was looking at Yen Sin.
But of all the changes in the village, the most momentous to me was the change in Yen Sin.
And this was Urkey village, and night, and Yen Sin was dying.
Yen Sin wasn't laughing himself; he was looking at his collars.
yen1
- the standard monetary unit of Japan, (notionally) divided into 100 sen
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Word Origin
C19: from Japanese en, from Chinese yüan circular object, dollar
yen2
- a passionate, ardent, or intense longing or desire
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- (intr) to yearn
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Word Origin
perhaps from Chinese (Cantonese) yăn a craving, addiction
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for yen
n.1
Japanese monetary unit, 1875, from Japanese yen, from Chinese yuan "round, round object, circle, dollar."
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n.2
"sharp desire, hunger," 1906, earlier yin "intense craving for opium" (1876), from Chinese (Cantonese) yan "craving," or from a Beijing dialect word for "smoke." Reinforced in English by influence of yearn.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with yen
yen
see have a yen for.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.