yam

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English

Yams
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) enPR: yăm, IPA(key): /jæm/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æm

Etymology 1

From Portuguese inhame and Spanish ñame, likely from Wolof ñàmbi (cassava) or a related word. The term was spelled yam as early as 1657.

Noun

yam (plural yams)

  1. Any climbing vine of the genus Dioscorea in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, usually cultivated.
  2. The edible, starchy, tuberous root of that plant, a tropical staple food.
    • 1958, Chinua Achebe, chapter 4, in Things Fall Apart, New York: Astor-Honor, published 1959, part 1, page 34:
      Inwardly Okonkwo knew that the boys were still too young to understand fully the difficult art of preparing seed-yams. But he thought that one could not begin too early. Yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed.
  3. (US) A sweet potato; a tuber from the species Ipomoea batatas.
  4. (Scotland) A potato.
  5. (New Zealand) An oca; a tuber from the species Oxalis tuberosa.
  6. (Malaysia, Singapore) Taro.
  7. An orange-brown colour, like the flesh of the yam. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
    yam:  
Usage notes

Careful use distinguishes yams (genus Dioscorea) from sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas), while casual American use conflates these.

Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Alternative form of hjem. Likely caused by influence from Old Norse heim (home, homewards), the accusative form of heimr (abode, world, land), from Proto-Germanic *haimaz. More at home.

Noun

yam (plural yams)

  1. (regional, Cumberland) Home.

Etymology 3

Verb

yam

  1. Pronunciation spelling of am.
    • 1904, Carrie Hunt Latta, “The Last Day of Schol”, in The Reader Magazine, volume IV, Indianopolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, page 291:
      “Stay, jailer, stay, and hear my woe,” repeating again and again, very softly, the line at the end of each stanza, “I am not mad, I am not mad.”
      Except she sang it:
      “I yam not mad, I yam not mad.”

Etymology 4

Ultimately from Fula nyaamude (to eat) or a cognate Fula-Wolof term.

Verb

yam (third-person singular simple present yams, present participle yamming, simple past and past participle yammed)

  1. (UK, slang) To eat.

Etymology 5

Apparently a variation of jam (dunk, verb).

Verb

yam (third-person singular simple present yams, present participle yamming, simple past and past participle yammed)

  1. (especially basketball) To dunk on; to beat humiliatingly.

Further reading

See also

etymologically unrelated terms containing the word "yam"

Anagrams

Aleut

Noun

yam

  1. (Eastern) yesterday

References

Azerbaijani

Etymology

See yamçı.

Pronunciation

Noun

yam (definite accusative yamı, plural yamlar)

  1. (historical) mail staging post

Declension

    Declension of yam
singular plural
nominative yam
yamlar
definite accusative yamı
yamları
dative yama
yamlara
locative yamda
yamlarda
ablative yamdan
yamlardan
definite genitive yamın
yamların
    Possessive forms of yam
nominative
singular plural
mənim (my) yamım yamlarım
sənin (your) yamın yamların
onun (his/her/its) yamı yamları
bizim (our) yamımız yamlarımız
sizin (your) yamınız yamlarınız
onların (their) yamı or yamları yamları
accusative
singular plural
mənim (my) yamımı yamlarımı
sənin (your) yamını yamlarını
onun (his/her/its) yamını yamlarını
bizim (our) yamımızı yamlarımızı
sizin (your) yamınızı yamlarınızı
onların (their) yamını or yamlarını yamlarını
dative
singular plural
mənim (my) yamıma yamlarıma
sənin (your) yamına yamlarına
onun (his/her/its) yamına yamlarına
bizim (our) yamımıza yamlarımıza
sizin (your) yamınıza yamlarınıza
onların (their) yamına or yamlarına yamlarına
locative
singular plural
mənim (my) yamımda yamlarımda
sənin (your) yamında yamlarında
onun (his/her/its) yamında yamlarında
bizim (our) yamımızda yamlarımızda
sizin (your) yamınızda yamlarınızda
onların (their) yamında or yamlarında yamlarında
ablative
singular plural
mənim (my) yamımdan yamlarımdan
sənin (your) yamından yamlarından
onun (his/her/its) yamından yamlarından
bizim (our) yamımızdan yamlarımızdan
sizin (your) yamınızdan yamlarınızdan
onların (their) yamından or yamlarından yamlarından
genitive
singular plural
mənim (my) yamımın yamlarımın
sənin (your) yamının yamlarının
onun (his/her/its) yamının yamlarının
bizim (our) yamımızın yamlarımızın
sizin (your) yamınızın yamlarınızın
onların (their) yamının or yamlarının yamlarının

Derived terms

Further reading

  • yam” in Obastan.com.

Beja

Noun

yám

  1. water

References

  • Klaus and Charlotte Wedekind, Abuzeinab Musa, Beja Pedagogical Grammar (2005)
  • Etudes berbères et chamito-sémitiques: mélanges offerts à Karl-G. Prasse (2000, →ISBN, page 38
  • Václav Blažek, A Lexicostatistical comparison of Omotic languages, in In Hot Pursuit of Language in Prehistory: Essays in the four fields of anthropology, page 122

Buwal

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

Cuvok

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English yam.

Pronunciation

Noun

yam m (plural yams or yammen, diminutive yammetje n)

  1. yam, a tropical vine
  2. its edible root

Synonyms

Lashi

Pronunciation

Postposition

yam

  1. beside

References

  • Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid, Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Merey

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

  • Richard Gravina (compiler); Alan Boydell, Elie Doumok (facilitators), Merey lexicon (2003, SIL)

Middle English

Pronoun

yam

  1. (Northern, northern East Midlands) Alternative form of þem (them)

Mofu-Gudur

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

North Giziga

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

  • Etudes berbères et chamito-sémitiques: mélanges offerts à Karl-G. Prasse (2000, →ISBN, page 38

Pnar

Etymology

From Proto-Khasian *jaːm, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *jaam. Cognate with Khasi ïam, Blang jàm, Khmu jaːm, Mang ɲaːm¹, Mon ယာံ, Khmer យំ (yum).

Pronunciation

Verb

yam

  1. to cry, to weep

South Giziga

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

  • Etudes berbères et chamito-sémitiques: mélanges offerts à Karl-G. Prasse (2000, →ISBN, page 38

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English yam.

Noun

yam

  1. yam

Yimchungru Naga

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-j(i/u)m.

Noun

yam

  1. house

Zulgo-Gemzek

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References