Jump To:

• 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.

---

Yuan ² American  

[yoo-ahn, yyahn] / juˈɑn, jüɑn /

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

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

---

Yüan ³ American  

[yoo-ahn, yyahn] / juˈɑn, jüɑn /

noun

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

2. Yuan.

---

Yüan ¹ British  

/ ˈjuːˈæn /

noun

1. the imperial dynasty of China from 1279 to 1368

---

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)

---

yuan ³ British  

/ ˈjuːˈæn /

noun

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

---

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

Revenue fell 15% to 25.67 billion yuan, though it slightly exceeded the 25.17 billion yuan market expectation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

It guided for roughly stable revenue at between 26.6 billion yuan and 28.0 billion yuan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

The Chinese automaker’s second-quarter revenue fell 15% to 25.67 billion yuan, while vehicle deliveries dropped 11% to 98,330 units.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

This solid momentum should sustain into 3Q, says the analyst, who expects 3Q online games revenue to grow 9% from a year earlier to 24.9 billion yuan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 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

“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

Yuan settlement in goods and commodity trade has risen sharply, accelerating amid the conflict in the Middle East, with Iran and the United Arab Emirates signaling openness to yuan transactions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 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

Swiatek squeezed past 31st seed Anna Kalinskaya with an error-strewn performance on Saturday, while she grappled with her serve and committed 34 unforced errors in her first-round match against Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026

The story is that one of the feudal states into which China was then divided, named Tau, was prospering under the wise guidance of Ku Yuan, who was the Prime Minister of its Prince.

From Sidelights on Chinese Life by J. (John) Macgowan

He seems to have penetrated even further than Ma Yüan along the path of daring simplifications, and to have approached at times the calligraphic style.

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

Seen as a whole, the Yüan period witnessed the assembling, the concentration, so to speak, of the ardent but scattered inspirations of the great masters of the preceding school.

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

Caught between these two tendencies, Yüan painting takes on new traits, which are perhaps more accessible to European mentality because they are more simple and direct.

From Chinese Painters A Critical Study by Frances Seaver