# yuan

Pronunciation: US say "yoo-AHN" /juˈɑn/; UK say "yoo-AN" /ˌjuːˈæn/

## Noun

1. The basic unit of currency in China.
   - Simple: The main unit of money used in China.
   - _The company reported profits of several billion yuan last quarter._
   - _Tourists can exchange their dollars for yuan at the airport bank._
2. A branch of the Republic of China’s government, which has five such divisions. *(dialectal, Taiwan)*
   - Simple: One of the five main parts of the government in the Republic of China.
   - _Each yuan operates with considerable independence from the others._
   - _Disputes between the executive and legislative yuan can stall reforms for months._

## Origin

**Meaning 1** — This comes from Mandarin 元 (yuán), from 圓/圆 (yuán, "circle," then "round coin"), referring to the piece of eight. It is a doublet of yen and won, and compares to Japanese 円 (en) and Korean 원 (won).
**Meaning 2** — This comes from Mandarin 院 (yuàn).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/yuan (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).