yen

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 >](https://bit.ly/3WERsBl) 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](https://www.britannica.com/place/Guangdong). In English, the Chinese syllables were translated as yen-yen, and eventually shortened to yen.