Meanings
yan1
- CumbriaNorthumbriaOne.
yan2
yan3
Yan4
alternative Yen
- historicalAn ancient march, duchy, and kingdom of northeastern China during the Zhou dynasty.
2 more examples
It is Lady Zhao who concocts a devious plan to unite the populace behind the emperor by arranging a bogus assassination attempt that will justify his invasion of the neighboring kingdom of Yan. The climactic showdown with Jing Ke (Zhang Fengyi), the fearless professional killer she recruits for the job (and with whom she falls deeply in love) takes place at an ambassadorial ceremony where he appears in disguise and presents Ying Zheng with a box containing the severed head of an enemy general and a map with a concealed sword.
1999 December 17, Stephen Holden, “FILM REVIEW; A Bloodthirsty Unification of China”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2011, Movie ReviewThe excavations, made this year ahead of development of a new administrative district for Beijing, shed light on life in a county-level city that was alive with activity several hundred years earlier than experts previously thought. Archaeological teams this year found ceramic and porcelain urns, earthen sculptures of animals, copper tools and mirrors — some of which are believed to be made by the Yan, a northern kingdom that stood for centuries before falling to the conqueror who unified China and became its first emperor in 221 B.C.
2016 December 8, “Diggers find ancient tombs in Beijing suburb”, in AP News, sourced from BEIJING (AP), archived from the original on 05 Sep 2024 - A mountain chain in northeastern China.
Synonyms: Yanshan
Yan5
plural Yans
- A male given name, equivalent to English John.
- A transliteration of the Belarusian, Russian, or Ukrainian male given name Ян (Jan)
Yan6
Synonyms & antonyms
determinerSynonym of yonder
proper nounA mountain chain in northeastern China.
Origin
yan · numeral
- Old Englishān
- Englishyan
Along with ane and yen, a Cumbrian and Northumbrian form of one, from the Old English ān. An example is "yan, twee, tree, fower" for "one, two, three, four".
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →yan · numeral
- Brythonic
- Englishyan
From Brythonic numerals, with influence from Old English ān or modern Northern English yan or Northern English yen.
More words from Brythonic
Full word history & related roots →Yan · proper noun
- Mandarin燕
- EnglishYan
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 燕 (Yān).
More words from Mandarin
Full word history & related roots →Yan · proper noun
- Mandarin嚴 /严
- EnglishYan
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 嚴 /严 (yán).
More words from Mandarin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with yan
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
yan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yan
“yan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yan. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yan,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yan.
Source: yan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.