likin

[ lee-keen ]

noun

1. (formerly in China) a provincial duty imposed on articles of trade that are in transit.

Word History and Origins

Origin of likin¹

1875–80; < earlier or dialectal Chinese, for Chinese líjīn ( lí .001 ounce + jīn money)

Example Sentences

Each time one of my more than 25 cousins or I received a sacrament — Baptism, First Holy Eucharist, Confirmation — a sprawling, family-wide party followed, usually at an Italian restaurant with a generically benevolent, pot-bellied owner who would toddle around and ask, “How yous all likin’ the food?”

From Salon

Leah Likin, a recent psychology graduate, described the hassle of driving to three donation sites, all rejecting her items because they were too beat up or because the sites were full for the day.

From Los Angeles Times

For now, students devoted to sustainability in other facets of their lives — like Likin, whose honors project touched on waste and climate anxiety — still have items to haul to the curb.

From Los Angeles Times

Dmitri Likin spent more than two decades helping shape the look of Russian state television, but he says neither he nor his friends ever watched the news.

From New York Times

It was only this month, after President Vladimir V. Putin invaded Ukraine, that Mr. Likin resigned as the longtime art director for Channel 1, the Russian state television network that is a major player in the Kremlin’s sprawling propaganda apparatus.

From New York Times