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• yuan
  yuan

  noun

  a copper coin of the Republic of China, equal to 100 cents; dollar.
• Yuan
  Yuan

  noun

  (in the Republic of China) a department of government; council.
• Yüan
  Yüan

  noun

  the Mongol dynasty in China, 1260–1368, founded by Kublai Khan.

yuan

¹ American  

[yoo-ahn, yyahn] / juˈɑn, jüɑn /

noun

• yuan
  plural

1. Also called yuan dollar.  a copper coin of the Republic of China, equal to 100 cents; dollar.

2. a paper money, brass or cupronickel coin, and monetary unit of the People's Republic of China, equal to 10 jiao or 100 fen.

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Yuan ² American  

[yoo-ahn, yyahn] / juˈɑn, jüɑn /

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

1. (in the Republic of China) a department of government; council.

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Yüan ³ American  

[yoo-ahn, yyahn] / juˈɑn, jüɑn /

noun

1. the Mongol dynasty in China, 1260–1368, founded by Kublai Khan.

2. Yuan.

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Yüan ¹ British  

/ ˈjuːˈæn /

noun

1. the imperial dynasty of China from 1279 to 1368

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Chinese porcelain produced during the Yüan dynasty, characterized by the appearance of under-glaze blue-and-white ware

Yüan ² British  

/ ˈjuːˈæn, ˈjuːˈɛn /

noun

1. a river in SE central China, rising in central Guizhou province and flowing northeast to Lake Tungting. Length: about 800 km (500 miles)

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yuan ³ British  

/ ˈjuːˈæn /

noun

1. Also called: renminbi.   renminbi yuan.  the standard monetary unit of China, divided into 10 jiao and 100 fen

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• yuan
  plural

Etymology

Origin of yuan

1915–20; < Chinese yuán literally, round, circular; cf. yen ¹

Explanation

The yuan is the Chinese equivalent of an American dollar or a British pound. When you're traveling in China, you'll need yuan to pay for meals, museums, hotels, and souvenirs. In Mandarin, yuán means a "round object" or "round coin," and in the Qing Dynasty, the yuan was a round, silver coin. Today in China, money is issued in both coins and banknotes, which are printed in amounts ranging from one to 100 yuan. It takes ten jiao to make one yuan, or 100 fen — so if you pay in cash, your change may come in yuan, jiao, and fen.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

yuan Yuan Yüan

Its net loss came to 721.6 million yuan, equivalent to about $107 million, narrowing from 5.14 billion yuan a year earlier, as revenue climbed 69% to 32.14 billion yuan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

From January to July 2025, for example, registered local enterprises received 147 million yuan in tax reductions and exemptions.

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

Net profit for the six months ended June fell 37% to 23.43 billion yuan, equivalent to $3.48 billion, the privately held company said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

The company’s research-and-development spending for the half rose 25% from the previous year to 121.38 billion yuan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Without saying much, the manager paid him six hundred yuan, or about seventy-two dollars.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

Checking in for the flight at Beijing Capital International Airport, passenger Hu Yuan told AFP he felt "a sense of pride" flying an international route on a domestically produced plane.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

“The diplomatic backdrop has improved but remains short of operational normalization,” said Kpler’s Ana Subasic, trade risk analyst, and Yuan Li, junior risk and compliance analyst.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026

“The party has understood that it cannot design soft power in a meeting room,” said Shaoyu Yuan, an adjunct professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026

Beijing is “telling domestic audiences: ‘Our culture is strong, our creators can compete with Disney and Marvel, and the party is the guardian of this rise,’” said Yuan, the NYU scholar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026

Irritated at this failure of the first expedition, Khubilai, the Emperor of Yuan, immediately ordered the preparation of another expedition on a far larger scale.

From An Introduction to the History of Japan by Katsuro Hara

He also continued the Sung tradition under the Yüan dynasty to which, as a matter of fact, he belonged only during the second part of his life.

From Chinese Painters A Critical Study by Frances Seaver

Tung Yüan and Chü Jan are considered by the critics as having founded a special school in the great tradition of Wang Wei.

From Chinese Painters A Critical Study by Frances Seaver

Yen Yüan, Min Tzu-ch'ien, Jan Po-niu and Chung-kung were men of noble life; Tsai Wo and Tzu-kung were the talkers; Jan Yu and Chi-lu were statesmen; Tzu-yu and Tzu-hsia, men of arts and learning.

From The Sayings Of Confucius by Leonard Arthur Lyall

At first influenced by the style of Tung Yüan and Chü Jan, he later acquired an individual style and was one of the great founders of schools in the Yüan period.

From Chinese Painters A Critical Study by Frances Seaver

Paintings of the Yüan or early Ming period.

From Chinese Painters A Critical Study by Frances Seaver