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陰陽

Pronunciation: /in⁵⁵ jɑŋ³⁵/

“陰陽” is a Chinese word. Its 8 meanings in English:

noun

  1. yin and yang (☯) (two opposing forces in nature)
  2. two contrasting things; antitheses
  3. ancient Chinese astronomy, especially the study of the movement of celestial bodies
  4. occult arts such as astrology, divination, geomancy, etc.
  5. yin-yang geomancer
  6. cathode and anode (short for 陰極 and short for 陽極)
  7. fengshui master; geomancer

verb

  1. to speak or act in a sarcastic or ironic way; to insinuate; to mock in a disguised manner; to be passive-aggressive

Etymology

As a compound, first attested in the Yong yu (永盂) bronze inscription of the mid-Western Zhou, where it is used as a geographical term denoting the shaded and sunlit sides of the Luo River. Yin later came to be associated with "female, dark, soft, passive, etc.", and yang later came to be associated with "male, light, hard, active, etc.". The verb sense is a clipping of 陰陽怪氣 /阴阳怪气 (yīnyángguàiqì).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.