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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
Reuters, CNN Money, 8 May 2025
The incentive offers a cash rebate of up to 50 percent on qualifying expenses, capped at 1 billion yen (about $7 million).
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2025
Fork over $100 billion yen, an excessive sum the government balks at.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 1 May 2025
Goldman expects the yen to strengthen from 143 yen to the dollar currently, to 135 yen to the dollar over the next 12 months and continue to strengthen to 115 yen to the dollar by 2028.
—Ganesh Rao, CNBC, 27 Apr. 2025
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Noun
The world’s top-selling automaker expects operating income to total 3.8 trillion yen ($26 billion) in the year to March 2026, versus 4.8 trillion yen in the financial year that just ended.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 8 May 2025
The incentive offers a cash rebate of up to 50 percent on qualifying expenses, capped at 1 billion yen (about $7 million).
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2025
Fork over $100 billion yen, an excessive sum the government balks at.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 1 May 2025
Goldman expects the yen to strengthen from 143 yen to the dollar currently, to 135 yen to the dollar over the next 12 months and continue to strengthen to 115 yen to the dollar by 2028.
—Ganesh Rao, CNBC, 27 Apr. 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 16 May. 2025.
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