Definition of YEN

yen

Plural: yen, yens

Noun

  • a yearning for something or to do something
  • the basic unit of money in Japan; equal to 100 sen
  • The unit of Japanese currency (symbol: ¥) since 1871, divided into 100 sen.
  • A coin or note worth one yen.
  • A strong desire, urge, or yearning.
  • Opium.

Verb

Verb Forms: yenned, yenning, yens

  • To yearn; to have a strong desire or craving for something.
  • have a desire for something or someone who is not present
  • To have a strong desire for.

Examples

  • He had a YEN to play a Q-without-U word, but the tiles just weren’t aligning.
  • humankind's yen for knowledge

Origin / Etymology

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.

Synonyms

ache, hankering, languish, pine, yearn, Chinese tobacco, God's medicine, JPY, aunti/aunti Emma, big O, chandu, craving, desire, dopium, dream gun, dream stick, fi-do-nie, gee, gondola, goric, guma, hop/hops, jones, longing, meconium, midnight oil, mud, ope, pen yan, pin gon, pox, skee, toxy, urge, when-shee, yearning, yen, ze, zero

Scrabble Score: 6

yen: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
yen: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
yen: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 6

yen: valid Words With Friends Word