Yin

//jɪn// name, noun, num

name, noun, num ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A principle in Chinese and related East Asian philosophies associated with dark, cool, female, etc. elements of the natural world. uncountable

    ""Steamed fish and chicken and vegetable soup and even mushrooms are considered cooling foods, edible materializations of the yang, the pure primal air. The yin, or earth element, inheres in fried dishes and especially in shark's fin soup. Am I right, Mr Lee?""

  2. 2
    the dark negative feminine principle in Chinese dualistic cosmology wordnet
Numeral
  1. 1
    The number one, primarily used in Scotland and Ulster
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
  2. 2
    A mountain range in northern China at the southeast end of the Gobi Desert.
  3. 3
    an alternative name for the Shang dynasty historical

Antonyms

All antonyms
yang

Example

More examples

"The Yin and the Yang are complementary rather than opposite forces."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From early romanizations of Chinese 陰／阴 (yīn), originally used in reference to shaded areas, as of a mountain or home.

Etymology 2

From ān. Doublet of yan, yen, ane and one.

Etymology 3

From the romanization of various Chinese characters.

Etymology 4

A borrowing of Chinese 陰山／阴山 (Yīnshān)

Etymology 5

From Mandarin 殷 (Yīn).

Related phrases

east asiayin yang

More for "yin"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.