yin-yang

See also: yinyang, yīnyáng, and yin yang

English

WOTD – 18 May 2007

A yin-yang symbol.

Alternative forms

• yin and yang, yin yang, ying-yang, ying yang

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 陰陽／阴阳 (yīnyáng), from Middle Chinese 陰陽 (MC 'im yang), from Old Chinese 陰陽 (OC *qrɯm laŋ), from 陰 (“dark” → “negative force”) + 陽 (“bright” → “positive force”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: yĭn yăng, IPA^(key): /ˈjɪn ˈjæŋ/, (proscribed) /ˈjɪŋ ˈjæŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

yin-yang (plural yin-yangs)

1. Yin and yang.
2. A circular symbol with white and black sections (☯), representing the fusion of the concepts of yin and yang.
3. (colloquial, somewhat vulgar) The vulva or vagina.
   • 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 124:

     U.S.S. Millicent asked Mario if he'd ever seen a girl's yin-yang before.

   • 2009, Stanley William Rogal, What Passes for Love, page 76:

     "So I took off my apron and told her she could shove the job up her yin-yang."

4. (colloquial, somewhat vulgar) The anus or rectum.

   He thought he could smuggle the drugs over the border by putting them in capsules and stuffing them up his yin-yang. Not a good idea!

   • 2021 January 19, CBC News, “Saskatchewan will run out of COVID-19 vaccine in the next few days, Moe says”, in Saskatchewan‎^[1]:

     "... I'd be on that phone call every single day. I'd be up that guy's yin-yang so far with a firecracker he wouldn't know what hit him," the Ontario premier said of Pfizer's executives.

Derived terms

• up the yin-yang
• yin-yang fish

Translations

yin and yang

• Ahom: 𑜑𑜃𑜫 𑜆𑜥 (han pū)
• Arabic: يِين وَيَانْغ (yīn wa-yanḡ)
• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 陰陽／阴阳 (zh-min-nan) (im-iông, im-iâng)

  Mandarin: 陰陽／阴阳 (zh) (yīnyáng)

• Finnish: jin-jang
• French: yin-yang (fr)
• German: Yin und Yang
• Hindi: यिन यांग (yin yāṅg)
• Hungarian: jin-jang (hu)
• Japanese: 陰陽 (ja) (いんよう, in'yō; おんよう, on'yō; おんみょう, onmyō)
• Korean: 음양(陰陽) (ko) (eumyang)
• Persian: یین و یانگ (yin o yâng)
• Portuguese: yin-yang (pt) m
• Russian: инь-я́н (ru) (inʹ-ján), инь и ян (inʹ i jan)
• Spanish: yin-yang m
• Thai: หยินหยาง (yin yang)
• Urdu: ین یانگ (yin yāṅg)
• Uyghur: يىن ياڭ (yin yang)
• Vietnamese: âm dương (vi) (陰陽)

symbol

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 太極圖／太极图 (zh) (tàijítú)

• Finnish: jin-jang
• Portuguese: yin-yang (pt) m

vagina — see vagina

anus — see anus

French

Alternative forms

• yin et yang

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ji.njɑ̃ɡ/

Noun

yin-yang m (uncountable)

1. (Chinese philosophy) yin-yang (opposite principles in Chinese philosophy)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈjĩ ˈjɐ̃.ɡi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈjĩ ˈjɐ̃.ɡi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈjĩ ˈjɐ̃.ɡe/

Noun

yin-yang m (uncountable)

1. (Chinese philosophy) yin-yang (opposite principles in Chinese philosophy)