yen.
The unit of Japanese currency (symbol: ¥) since 1871, divided into 100 sen.
Meaning & usage
The unit of Japanese currency (symbol: ¥) since 1871, divided into 100 sen.
A coin or note worth one yen.
Where this word comes from
From Medhurst and Hepburn’s romanizations, under the influence of earlier Portuguese romanizations, of Japanese 圓(えん) (en, “round; a round object”) as ye or yen, now 円(えん) (en), from Chinese 銀圓 /银圆 (yínyuán, “round silver object(s), especially a piece of eight”): 銀 /银 (yín, “silver”) + 圓 /圆 (yuán, “circular, round; yuan, yen, dollar”). Cognate with Chinese 元 (yuán, “monetary unit, especially RMB”) and Korean 원 (won, “North or South Korean won”). Doublet of won and yuan.
A strong desire, urge, or yearning.
humankind's yen for knowledge
Where this word comes from
Origin uncertain, but probably from Cantonese 癮 /瘾 (jan⁵, “craving”) originally in reference to opium addiction, 煙癮 /烟瘾 (jin¹ jan⁵) or 菸癮 /烟瘾 (jin¹ jan⁵): 煙 /烟 (jin¹), 菸 /烟 (jin¹, “smoke, specifically opium”). Compare the later yen (“opium”) and yen-yen.
To have a strong desire for.
Where this word comes from
Origin uncertain, but probably from Cantonese 癮 /瘾 (jan⁵, “craving”) originally in reference to opium addiction, 煙癮 /烟瘾 (jin¹ jan⁵) or 菸癮 /烟瘾 (jin¹ jan⁵): 煙 /烟 (jin¹), 菸 /烟 (jin¹, “smoke, specifically opium”). Compare the later yen (“opium”) and yen-yen.
Opium.
Where this word comes from
From Mandarin 煙 /烟 (yān), 菸 /烟 (yān), or Cantonese 煙 /烟 (jin¹), 菸 /烟 (jin¹, “smoke, specifically opium”). Compare the earlier yen (“strong desire”) and later yen-yen.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.