1885: Yen, Yuan, and Won Feb 12, 2020

Names for currencies from East Asia, including Yen, Yuan, and Won are all etymologically similar. The Japanese 'yen' is derived from the original Chinese, but they have different meanings; here it's literally 'round'. This is because that, and 'yuan' (silver), come from the phrase 'yínyuán' or literally 'silver round', denoting coins. Both Korean wons also mean 'round' and are cognates.

Send Word Facts any of these—or other—currencies at patreon.com/wordfacts