yen

yen
yen1
/yen/, n., pl. yen.
1. an aluminum coin and monetary unit of Japan, equal to 100 sen or 1000 rin. Symbol: ¥; Abbr.: Y
2. a former silver coin of Japan.
[1870-75; < Japn (y)en < Chin yuán YUAN]
yen2
/yen/, n., v., yenned, yenning. Informal.
n.
1. a desire or craving: I had a yen for apple pie.
v.i.
2. to have a craving; yearn.
[1905-10, Amer.; prob. < dial. Chin (OAGuangdong) yáhn, akin to Chin yin craving, addiction]
Syn. 1. longing, hankering, hunger, appetite.

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▪ Japanese currency
  monetary unit of Japan. The yen was divided into 100 sen and into 1,000 rin until 1954, when these tiny denominations were removed from circulation. Despite having suffered enormous devastation during World War II, Japan enjoyed an economic miracle in the second half of the 20th century, during which time the yen became one of the leading international currencies, challenging the pound sterling and the dollar on international markets. The yen's symbol is ¥. The name yen derives from an ancient term for Chinese round coins (yuan).

      First minted in 1869, after the Meiji Restoration, the yen was officially adopted as the basic unit in the monetary reform of 1871. In that year the government suspended the exchange of clan notes, paper money that feudal lords had issued and circulated since the late 16th century. (According to a Ministry of Finance survey of 1868, a total of 1,694 denominations of clan money had been issued by 244 clans, 14 magistrates' offices, and 9 shogunate retainers during the Tokugawa (Tokugawa period) period [1603–1867].) By 1879 the replacement of clan notes by the yen-based government notes had been completed.

      The Bank of Japan has the exclusive authority to issue banknotes and coins. Banknotes are issued in denominations ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 yen. The obverse of each note contains an image of an important cultural figure in Japanese history. For example, novelist Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916) appears on the 1,000-yen note; author Murasaki Shikibu (c. 978–c. 1014), whose Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji (Tale of Genji, The)) is considered one of the world's oldest novels, is on the 2,000-yen note; and author and educator Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835–1901), who was one of the most powerful nongovernmental figures in Japan, is featured on the 10,000-yen note. Coin denominations range from 1 to 500 yen.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • yen — yen …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • Yen — Staat: Japan Unterteilung: 100 Sen, 1000 Rin (historisch) ISO 4217 Code: JPY Abkürzung: ¥ …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • YEN — YE C’est en 1869 que furent pour la première fois frappées des pièces d’argent portant le nom de yen. Celui ci devait devenir l’unité monétaire du Japon à la faveur de la réforme de 1871, remplaçant les monnaies de papier que les féodaux avaient… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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  • yen — [jen] yen PLURALFORM noun [countable] the standard unit of money in Japan: • The company already has debts of 127 billion Yen. • The dollar closed at 125.75 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market. * * * yen UK US /jen/ noun [C] (plural yen) …   Financial and business terms

  • yen — YEN, yeni, s.m. Unitate bănească în Japonia – Din engl., fr. yen. Trimis de spall, 27.02.2002. Sursa: DEX 98  yen s. m., pl. yeni Trimis de siveco, 10.08.2004. Sursa: Dicţionar ortografic  YEN yeni m …   Dicționar Român

  • yen — [jen] n plural yen [Sense: 1 2; Date: 1800 1900; : Japanese; Origin: en, from Chinese yuan; YUAN] [Sense: 3; Date: 1900 2000; : Chinese; Origin: yan] 1.) the standard unit of money in Japan: symbol ¥ …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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  • yen — ☆ ☆ yen yen1 [yen] n. pl. yen [SinoJpn en, lit., round] the basic monetary unit of Japan: see the table of monetary units in the Reference Supplement yen2 [yen] n. [prob. < Cantonese yan, smoke (n.), opium ] Informal a strong longing or desire …   English World dictionary

  • Yen My — ( vi. Yên Mỹ) is a district ( huyện ) of Hung Yen Province in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam …   Wikipedia

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