yen

日元

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

2025-12-28

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 28, 2025 is: yen • YEN  • noun A yen is a strong desire, urge, or craving for something. // After dinner, the family went out for ice cream to satisfy their yen for something sweet. // Students with a yen to travel should consider studying abroad. See the entry > Examples: “If you’ve got a yen for succulent, right-off-the-boat Maine sea scallops, now is the time to get them.” — Stephen Rappaport, The Bangor Daily News, 26 Mar. 2025 Did you know? 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, used in the late 19th century, was an intense craving for opium. The word comes from yīn-yáhn, a combination of yīn, meaning “opium,” and yáhn, “craving,” in the Chinese language used in the province of Guangdong. In English, the Chinese syllables were translated as yen-yen, and eventually shortened to yen.
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  • It's the Word of the Day podcast for December 28th.

  • Today's word is YEN, spelled Y-E-N.

  • YEN is a noun.

  • A YEN is a strong desire, urge, or craving for something.

  • Here's the word used in a sentence from the banger daily news.

  • If you've got a yen for succulent right off the boat main sea scallops, now is the time to get them.

  • 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 used in the late 19th century was an intense craving for opium.

  • The word comes from yin-yan, a combination of yin, meaning opium,

  • and yang, craving, in the Chinese language used in the province of Guangdong.

  • In English, the Chinese syllables were translated as yen-yen, and eventually shortened to yen.

  • With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

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