yin-yang

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See also: yinyang, yīnyáng, and yin yang

English

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A yin-yang symbol.

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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 (“dark” → “negative force”) + (“bright” → “positive force”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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Translations

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French

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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yin-yang m (uncountable)

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

Portuguese

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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yin-yang m (uncountable)

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