yam

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Related to Yams: sweet potato

yam

 (yăm)
n.
1.
a. Any of numerous chiefly tropical vines of the genus Dioscorea, many of which have edible tuberous roots.
b. The starchy root of any of these plants, used in the tropics as food.

[Portuguese inhame or obsolete Spanish igname, iñame, both from Portuguese and English Creole nyam, to eat, of West African origin; Wolof ñam, food, to eat, or Bambara ñambu, manioc.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

yam

(jæm)
n
1. (Plants) any of various twining plants of the genus Dioscorea, of tropical and subtropical regions, cultivated for their edible tubers: family Dioscoreaceae
2. (Cookery) the starchy tuber of any of these plants, which is eaten as a vegetable
3. (Plants) Southern US any of certain large varieties of sweet potato
4. (Cookery) Southern US any of certain large varieties of sweet potato
5. (Plants) a former Scot name for the (common) potato
[C17: from Portuguese inhame, ultimately of West African origin; compare Senegal nyami to eat]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

yam

(yæm)

n.
1. the starchy, tuberous root of any of various African climbing vines of the genus Dioscorea, family Dioscoreaceae, cultivated for food in warm regions: resembling but botanically unrelated to the sweet potato.
2. any of these plants.
3. the sweet potato.
[1580–90; compare Gullah nyam, Jamaican E nyaams, Sranan jamsi < sources in one or more West African languages]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
sweet potato, yam - The sweet potatoes and yams sold in most stores are the same vegetable—sweet potatoes are inside every mislabeled yam can; true yams are not sold anywhere except a handful of specialty grocers.
See also related terms for vegetable.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

yam

A root of tropical climbing plants and a staple food in parts of Africa.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.yam - edible tuber of any of several yams
yam plant, yam - any of a number of tropical vines of the genus Dioscorea many having edible tuberous roots
tuber - a fleshy underground stem or root serving for reproductive and food storage
2.yam - any of a number of tropical vines of the genus Dioscorea many having edible tuberous roots
yam - edible tuber of any of several yams
Dioscorea alata, water yam, white yam - grown in Australasia and Polynesia for its large root with fine edible white flesh
Chinese yam, cinnamon vine, Dioscorea batata - hardy Chinese vine naturalized in United States and cultivated as an ornamental climber for its glossy heart-shaped cinnamon-scented leaves and in the tropics for its edible tubers
air potato, Dioscorea bulbifera - yam of tropical Africa and Asia cultivated for it large tubers
cush-cush, Dioscorea trifida - tropical American yam with small yellow edible tubers
vine - a plant with a weak stem that derives support from climbing, twining, or creeping along a surface
3.yam - sweet potato with deep orange flesh that remains moist when bakedyam - sweet potato with deep orange flesh that remains moist when baked
sweet potato - the edible tuberous root of the sweet potato vine which is grown widely in warm regions of the United States
4.yam - edible tuberous root of various yam plants of the genus Dioscorea grown in the tropics world-wide for food
root vegetable - any of various fleshy edible underground roots or tubers
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
بَطاطا حُلْوَه، قُلْقاس هِنْدي
jam
yamsyamsrod
jamssi
ubi
sætuhnúîjurt; sætuhnúîur
dioskorėja
dioskorėjajamss
jam
Hint yer elması

yam

[jæm] Nñame m; (= sweet potato) → batata f, camote m (LAm)
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

yam

[ˈjæm] n
(British)igname f
(US) (= sweet potato) → patate f douce
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

yam

n
(= plant)Yamswurzel f, → Jamswurzel f
(= sweet potato)Süßkartoffel f, → Batate f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

yam

[jæm] n (plant, tuber) → igname m; (sweet potato) → patata dolce
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

yam

(jӕm) noun
any of several kinds of potato-like tropical plants used as food.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
Ah, if I had only known then that he was only a common mortal, and that his mission had nothing more overpowering about it than the collecting of seeds and uncommon yams and extraordinary cabbages and peculiar bullfrogs for that poor, useless, innocent, mildewed old fossil the Smithsonian Institute, I would have felt so much relieved.
Beyond these, however, the country was fertile and well cultivated, with inclosures of yams, plantains, sweet potatoes, sugar-canes, and other productions of warm climates and teeming soils; and the numerous habitations of the natives were pleasantly sheltered beneath clumps of cocoanut and bread-fruit trees, which afforded both food and shade.
They always had plenty to eat and drink; because Chee-Chee and Polynesia knew all the different kinds of fruits and vegetables that grow in the jungle, and where to find them--like dates and figs and ground-nuts and ginger and yams. They used to make their lemonade out of the juice of wild oranges, sweetened with honey which they got from the bees' nests in hollow trees.
Cultivated plains soon appear, where are united all the productions of the northern and tropical floras, terminating in prairies abounding with pineapples and yams, tobacco, rice, cotton-plants, and sugar-canes, which extend beyond reach of sight, flinging their riches broadcast with careless prodigality.
I gave him directions to have several gourds of water and a lot of yams, cocoa-nuts, and sweet potatoes.
In the midst of bananas, orange, cocoa-nut, and bread-fruit trees, spots are cleared where yams, sweet potatoes, and sugar-cane, and pine-apples are cultivated.
In the meantime the natives were bringing yams to the white men with timid gestures.
The bushmen swarmed in the camp in increasing numbers, and they were always making presents of yams and taro, of pig and fowl, and of wild fruits and vegetables.
We returned through the forest, and completed our collection by a raid upon the cabbage-palms, that we gathered from the tops of the trees, little beans that I recognised as the "abrou" of the Malays, and yams of a superior quality.
Here they set to work to build a new village, and in a month a great clearing had been made, huts and palisades erected, plantains, yams and maize planted, and they had taken up their old life in their new home.
Skipper bent suddenly, rolled Jerry with quick toughness into the blanket, and deposited him in the hollow between two sacks of yams lashed on deck aft of the mizzenmast.
It began when the winter Rains failed almost entirely, and Ikki, the Porcupine, meeting Mowgli in a bamboo-thicket, told him that the wild yams were drying up.