yen
noun /jen/
/jen/
- (plural yen)[countable] the unit of money in Japan
- the yen[singular] (finance) the value of the yen compared with the value of the money of other countries
- [countable, usually singular] yen (for something/to do something) a strong desire synonym longing
- I've always had a yen to travel around the world.
Word Originsenses 1 to 2from Japanese en ‘round’.sense 3 late 19th cent. (in the sense ‘craving (of a drug addict) for a drug’): from Chinese yăn.