yin-yang

See also: yinyang, yīnyáng, and yin yang

English

WOTD – 18 May 2007
A yin-yang symbol.

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 陰陽阴阳 (yīnyáng), from Middle Chinese 陰陽 (MC ʔˠiɪm jɨɐŋ), from Old Chinese 陰陽 (OC *qrɯm laŋ), from (“dark” → “negative force”) + (“bright” → “positive force”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: yĭn yăng, IPA(key): /ˈjɪn ˈjæŋ/
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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.
    • 1998, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest, Abacus 2013, 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 ying-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:
      "... 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

Translations


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

Noun

yin-yang m (uncountable)

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