Link Centre Dictionary

yen

UK/jɛn/ US/ˈjɛn/ common slang
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

a yearning for something or to do something

Synonyms
2.

the basic unit of money in Japan; equal to 100 sen

verb

1.

have a desire for something or someone who is not present

  • “She ached for a cigarette”
  • “I am pining for my lover”
Synonyms

Origin

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.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.