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yam

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yam

[yam] ,
–noun
1. the starchy, tuberous root of any of various climbing vines of the genus Dioscorea, cultivated for food in warm regions.
2. any of these plants.
3. the sweet potato.
4. Scot. potato (def. 1).

Origin:
1580–90; cf. Gullah nyam, Jamaican E nyaams, Sranan jamsi < sources in one or more West African languages (cf. Wolof nyam(nyam), Fulani nyami to eat, Twi εnãm flesh, ànyinam, ayam’kàw-dé kinds of yam; earlier E forms < Pg inhame or Sp (i)ñame
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sweet potato  
n.  
    1. A tropical American vine (Ipomoea batatas) having rose-violet or pale pink, funnel-shaped flowers, and cultivated for its fleshy tuberous orange root.

    2. The root of this vine, eaten cooked as a vegetable. Also called regionally yam.

  1. Informal An ocarina.

yam   (yām)   
n.  
  1. Any of numerous chiefly tropical vines of the genus Dioscorea, many of which have edible tuberous roots.

  2. The starchy root of any of these plants, used in the tropics as food.

  3. Chiefly Southern U.S. See sweet potato. See Regional Note at goober.


[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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

yam 
1588, from Port. inhame or Sp. igname, from a W.African language (cf. Fulani nyami "to eat;" Twi anyinam "species of yam"); the word in Amer.Eng. and in Jamaican Eng. is probably directly borrowed from W.African sources.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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