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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, 4 June 2025
The government presently provides 500,000 yen ($3,400) for each birth in Japan.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025
In an earnings presentation, the company warned of potential price hikes since Sony expects to face 100 billion yen ($683 million) in costs from Trump’s tariffs for the next fiscal year.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 14 May 2025
Still, a sudden turnaround seems unlikely – the automaker expects a 200 billion yen operating loss in the first quarter, CFO Jeremie Papin said.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for yen
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Noun
Toyota Motor will invest about 700 billion yen in non-voting preferred shares.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 4 June 2025
The government presently provides 500,000 yen ($3,400) for each birth in Japan.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025
In an earnings presentation, the company warned of potential price hikes since Sony expects to face 100 billion yen ($683 million) in costs from Trump’s tariffs for the next fiscal year.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 14 May 2025
Still, a sudden turnaround seems unlikely – the automaker expects a 200 billion yen operating loss in the first quarter, CFO Jeremie Papin said.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 13 May 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 10 Jun. 2025.
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