yen1
/jɛn
/noun (plural same)
The basic monetary unit of Japan.Whether it be for the lure of dollars or yen, or the start of a coaching career back in France remains to be seen....
- The prices helpfully flash up on the board in pounds, dollars, Swiss francs, pesetas and yen.
- The history is that after the Plaza Accord of 1985, the dollar declined against the yen.
Origin
From Japanese en 'round'.
The vocabulary of drug users entered mainstream English before modern times. The yen in to have a yen for, ‘to long or yearn for’, originally referred to the drug addict's craving for opium. The word came from Chinese yăn ‘craving’ in the 1870s. The yen that is the monetary unit of Japan comes from Japanese en ‘round’.
Rhymes
yen2
/jɛn/informal
noun [in singular]
A longing or yearning: [with infinitive]: she always had a yen to be a writer...
- While growing up I watched my three brothers play baseball and always had a yen to join them.
- If you have a yen for the ole west, you'll find what you are looking for in Morris starting next week.
- Diesel, quite improbably, had always had a yen to act with the grande dame.
Synonyms
hankering, yearning, longing, craving, urge, desire, want, wish, hunger, thirst, lust, appetite, greed, ache, burning, eagerness, fervour;
fancy, inclination
informal itch
verb (yens, yenning, yenned) [no object]
Feel a longing or yearning: it’s no use yenning for the old simplicities...
- And I should have linked it immediately to the Hippie's sudden yenning for suburban clothing.
Origin
Late 19th century (in the sense 'craving (of a drug addict) for a drug'): from Chinese yǎn.
- cytoplasmically
- cytoplasmic inheritance
- cytoplasmic male sterility
- take up (or throw down) the gauntlet
- take up the cudgels
- take up the running
- take up with
- take wing
- take-with
- takhaar
- takht
- Takilma
- takin
- taking
- taking clause
- taking day
- taking in
- taking lens
- takingly
- takingness
- taking off
- taking-off board
- taking-off boy
- taking on
- takings clause