English Reference

Word

yen

US/ˈjɛn/

UK/jˈɛn/

Definitions

01Japanese currency

A2

n. the official unit of money used in Japan.

n. the standard unit of currency in Japan, symbolised as ¥.

“The price of the camera was fifty thousand yen at the shop in Tokyo.”

“Investors watched the exchange rate closely as the yen strengthened against the dollar following the central bank's announcement.”

02a strong desire

C2

n. a strong feeling that you want to do or have something.

n. a persistent and intense desire, urge, or yearning for something.

“After a long week of work, I had a real yen for a quiet day at the beach.”

“Despite his successful career in the city, he harboured a secret yen to move to the countryside and start a small organic farm.”

Informal

Antonyms

Real-World Examples

“But the yen is weakening , making it cheaper for tourists when they're actually out there - even as rising prices hit residents.”
BBC News · 29 Aug 2026
“Pressure on Beijing would ideally be part of a plan to revalue other depressed east Asian currencies, like the Korean won, the Taiwanese dollar and the Japanese yen, to reduce competitive pressure on China.”
The Guardian · 19 Aug 2026

Etymology

From Mandarin 燕 (Yān), reinforced by Wade-Giles romanization: Yen¹.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
C2 · Proficiency
Frequency
Frequent
Updated

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