yam
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Portuguese inhame and Spanish ñame, likely from Wolof ñàmbi (“cassava”) or a related word. The term was spelled yam as early as 1657. Doublet of name.
Noun edit
yam (plural yams)
- Any climbing vine of the genus Dioscorea in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, usually cultivated.
- 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.
- (US) A sweet potato; a tuber from the species Ipomoea batatas.
- (Scotland) A potato.
- (New Zealand) A oca; a tuber from the species Oxalis tuberosa.
- (Malaysia, Singapore) Taro.
- An orange-brown colour, like the flesh of the yam. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- yam:
Usage notes edit
Careful use distinguishes yams (genus Dioscorea) from sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas), while casual American use conflates these.
Derived terms edit
- aerial yam, air yam (Dioscorea bulbifera)
- afoo yam
- betel yam (Dioscorea oppositifolia)
- bitter yam (Dioscorea bulbifera, Dioscorea dumetorum)
- cheeky yam (Dioscorea bulbifera)
- Chinese yam (Dioscorea polystachya, Dioscorea oppositifolia)
- common yam (Dioscorea batatas)
- cush-cush yam (Dioscorea trifida)
- elephant foot yam
- elephant yam (Amorphophallus konjac)
- fiveleaf yam (Dioscorea pentaphylla)
- Foochow yam (Dioscorea septemloba)
- fourleaf yam (Dioscorea villosa)
- garnet yam
- greater yam (Dioscorea alata)
- Indian three-leaf yam (Dioscorea hispida)
- Indian yam (Dioscorea trifida)
- intoxicating yam (Dioscorea hispida)
- Japanese mountain yam (Dioscorea japonica)
- Japanese yam (Dioscorea japonica)
- jewel yam
- lesser yam (Dioscorea esculenta)
- Mexican yam (Dioscorea mexicana)
- mountain yam (Dioscorea japonica, Dioscorea tokoro, etc.)
- negro yam
- New Zealand yam (Oxalis tuberosa)
- Okinawan yam
- parsnip yam (Dioscorea bulbifera)
- potato yam (Dioscorea bulbifera)
- purple yam (Dioscorea alata)
- seven-lobed yam (Dioscorea septemloba)
- thorny yam (Dioscorea tomentosa)
- tropical yam (Dioscorea alata)
- true yam (Dioscorea spp.)
- water yam (Aponogeton spp.; Dioscorea alata)
- white yam (Dioscorea alata)
- wild yam
- winged yam (Dioscorea alata)
- yam bean
- yamberry
- yam cake
- yam daisy
- yamless
- yamlike
- yampee (Dioscorea trifida)
- yam stick
- yellow yam (Dioscorea cayenensis. Dioscorea panthaica)
Translations edit
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Etymology 2 edit
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 edit
yam (plural yams)
Etymology 3 edit
Verb edit
yam
- Pronunciation spelling of am.
- 1904, Carrie Hunt Latta, “The Last Day of Schol”, in The Reader Magazine[1], 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 edit
Ultimately from Fula nyaamude (“to eat”) or a cognate Fula-Wolof term.
Verb edit
yam (third-person singular simple present yams, present participle yamming, simple past and past participle yammed)
- (UK, nonstandard, slang) To eat.
- 2016, Zadie Smith, Swing Time, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 78:
- “If I was that snake I’d just open my jaw and yam that fool up in one bite!”
Etymology 5 edit
Apparently a variation of jam (“dunk”, verb).
Verb edit
yam (third-person singular simple present yams, present participle yamming, simple past and past participle yammed)
- (especially basketball) To dunk on; to beat humiliatingly.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:yam.
Further reading edit
- Jonathon Green (2024), “yam n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
- Jonathon Green (2024), “yam v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
See also edit
Anagrams edit
Aleut edit
Noun edit
yam
- (Eastern) yesterday
References edit
- 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.
Azerbaijani edit
Etymology edit
See yamçı.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Noun edit
yam (definite accusative yamı, plural yamlar)
Declension edit
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 |
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “yam” in Obastan.com.
Beja edit
Noun edit
yám
References edit
- 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 edit
Etymology edit
Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.
Noun edit
yam
References edit
- Mélanie Viljoen, Michael Viljoen, Pascal Konai, François Mbouvai, Ernest Koyang, Benjamin Deli, Précis d’orthographe pour la langue buwal - Édition préliminaire (2009, Yaoundé, SIL Cameroun)
Cuvok edit
Etymology edit
Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.
Noun edit
yam
References edit
- ASJP
- Olga Stolbova, Chadic Lexical Database, issue II (2007): yam "water"
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
yam m (plural yams or yammen, diminutive yammetje n)
- yam, a tropical vine
- its edible root
Synonyms edit
Lashi edit
Pronunciation edit
Postposition edit
yam
References edit
- Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid[2], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)
Merey edit
Etymology edit
Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.
Noun edit
yam
References edit
- Richard Gravina (compiler); Alan Boydell, Elie Doumok (facilitators), Merey lexicon (2003, SIL)
Middle English edit
Pronoun edit
yam
- (Northern, northern East Midlands) Alternative form of þem (“them”)
Mofu-Gudur edit
Etymology edit
Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.
Noun edit
yam
References edit
- Topics in Mofu-Gudur (SIL)
North Giziga edit
Etymology edit
Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.
Noun edit
yam
References edit
- Etudes berbères et chamito-sémitiques: mélanges offerts à Karl-G. Prasse (2000, →ISBN, page 38
Pnar edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Khasian *jaːm, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *jaam. Cognate with Khasi ïam, Blang jàm, Khmu [Cuang] jaːm, Mang ɲaːm¹, Mon ယာံ, Khmer យំ (yum).
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
yam
South Giziga edit
Etymology edit
Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.
Noun edit
yam
References edit
- Etudes berbères et chamito-sémitiques: mélanges offerts à Karl-G. Prasse (2000, →ISBN, page 38
Tok Pisin edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
yam
Yimchungru Naga edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-j(i/u)m.
Noun edit
yam
Zulgo-Gemzek edit
Etymology edit
Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.
Noun edit
yam
References edit
- An Outline Sketch of Gemzek Grammar
- An Overview of Gemzek Narrative Discourse Features