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Although yen suggests no more than a strong desire these days (as in "a yen for a beach vacation"), at one time someone with a yen was in deep trouble: the first meaning of yen was an intense craving for opium. The word comes from Cantonese yīn-yáhn, a combination of yīn, meaning "opium," and yáhn, "craving." In English, the Chinese syllables were translated as yen-yen.
Examples of yen in a Sentence
Noun (2)
I have a strange yen to take the day off from work
Verb
what car lover doesn't yen for a new car at the start of every model year
Recent Examples on the Web
Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 26 Feb. 2025
On the rise since last autumn, the dollar is strong compared with a number of foreign currencies, including the euro, the Japanese yen and the Canadian dollar.
—Elaine Glusac, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
As for Games & Network Services, profits rose 37% to 118.1 billion yen ($766.3 million).
—Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2025
Goldman Sachs estimated that there could be at least 25 trillion yen ($165 billion) in unrealized property gains across more than 250 Japanese companies whose primary business is not real estate.
—Zinnia Lee, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2025
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Noun
This comes after the Yomiuri newspaper reported that Seven & i has abandoned the management buyout plan, which was pegged at over 8 trillion yen ($53.69 billion).
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 26 Feb. 2025
On the rise since last autumn, the dollar is strong compared with a number of foreign currencies, including the euro, the Japanese yen and the Canadian dollar.
—Elaine Glusac, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
As for Games & Network Services, profits rose 37% to 118.1 billion yen ($766.3 million).
—Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2025
Goldman Sachs estimated that there could be at least 25 trillion yen ($165 billion) in unrealized property gains across more than 250 Japanese companies whose primary business is not real estate.
—Zinnia Lee, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for yen
Cite this Entry
“Yen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yen. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.
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