[ee-duh
m, ee-dam; Du. ey-dahm] 
| a mild, hard, yellow cheese, produced in a round shape and coated with red wax. |
| E·dam (ē'dəm, ē'dām') n. A mild, yellow Dutch cheese, pressed into balls and usually covered with red wax. [After Edam, a town in the western Netherlands.] |
Edam
dorp (village) in northwestern Netherlands, on the IJsselmeer (Lake IJssel). Named for the dam built on the Ye, which joined the Purmer Lake (now polder) to the Zuiderzee, it became an important harbour, fishing port, and shipbuilding centre and was chartered in 1357, when a dock was built on the Zuiderzee. The harbour silted up and industrial and commercial activity waned after the construction in 1567 of a sluice in the dock to prevent flooding. The harbour has been sealed off as part of an inland lake preparatory to the drainage of the Markerwaard Polder (see IJsselmeer Polders).
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