yen

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /jɛn/ UK /jɛn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a strong longing or craving for something

She had a sudden yen for the sea after months in the dusty city.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a strong longing or craving... craving longing hankering desire urge itch

Opposites

aversion distaste

Simplified etymology

Yen meaning a strong desire entered English in the 1870s from Chinese yăn, “craving,” and first referred to an opium addict’s craving. The Japanese currency name has an unrelated origin in Japanese en, meaning “round.”

Etymology

From Cantonese 癮 (yáhn, 'craving, addiction'), originally referring to an opium craving, borrowed into English in the early 20th century.

癮 Cantonese

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# yen

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /jɛn/
**IPA (UK):** /jɛn/

## Meanings
1. a strong longing or craving for something

## Examples
- She had a sudden yen for the sea after months in the dusty city.

## Synonyms
- craving
- longing
- hankering
- desire
- urge
- itch

## Antonyms
- aversion
- distaste

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: 癮

## Etymology
From Cantonese 癮 (yáhn, 'craving, addiction'), originally referring to an opium craving, borrowed into English in the early 20th century.

## AI Etymology
yen comes from Cantonese 癮 (yáhn, 'craving, addiction'), originally referring to an opium craving, borrowed into English in the early 20th century. The path is chiefly one of transmission: an older form is taken into English, with the word's shape and meaning carried through the language names and forms preserved in the history. In modern use, the noun sense is "a strong longing or craving for something", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. Its nearest semantic neighbors include craving, longing, hankering, desire, but the etymology gives the word its own historical profile within that field. The principal historical forms in the chain include Cantonese 癮, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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yen