English▸ noun [in singular] a longing or yearning:
the continuing boom in the economy is allowing many consumers to indulge their yen for high-end toys
[with infinitive] she always had a yen to be a writer.
▸ verb
(yens, yenning, yenned)
[no object] feel a longing or yearning: it's no use yenning for the old simplicities.
– ORIGIN late 19th century (in the sense ‘craving for a drug’): probably from Chinese yǎn ‘craving’, possibly reinforced by yān ‘opium’.