Word of the Day Archive
Monday June 11, 2001
yen \YEN\
, noun:
1. A desire or craving.
2. An aluminum coin and monetary unit of Japan, equal to 100 sen or 1000 rin.
verb:
1. To have a craving; yearn.
If you have a yen for real-life adventure stories, here are five paperbacks you want to be sure to slip into your vacation bag this summer.
-- Marjorie Kehe, "5 gripping real-life adventure stories", Christian Science Monitor, May 2010.
"But the thing here is, Darcy, I've had a bit of a ... of a yen for him for ... well, forever. I just thought it was time to act on it or I'd always have one, and where would that get me?"
-- Nora Roberts, Tears of the moon
The use of yen to signify a desire, as opposed to Japanese currency, is an Americanism that probably derives from Chinese dialect, yáhn or yin, "craving."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for yen
