Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

yam

/jæm/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.04 in modern English

Syllables: yam
IPA: /jæm/

8

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

1

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any climbing vine of the genus Dioscorea in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, usually cultivated.

noun

The edible, starchy, tuberous root of that plant, a tropical staple food.

noun

A sweet potato; a tuber from the species Ipomoea batatas.

American usage

noun

noun

An oca; a tuber from the species Oxalis tuberosa.

New Zealand usage

noun

noun

An orange-brown colour, like the flesh of the yam.

noun

Example Sentences

"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."
"“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.”"
"“If I was that snake I’d just open my jaw and yam that fool up in one bite!”"
"For quotations using this term, see Citations:yam."

Etymology

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

Origin

Source language: Spanish

Word Breakdown

Root: ñame, ñàmbi, heim, *haimaz, nyaamude, -

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /jæm/
British English: /jæm/

Usage

American usage
New Zealand usage
British usage
Slang

Inflected Forms

yams (plural) yams (present, singular) yamming (participle, present) yammed (participle, past) yammed (past)

Derived Forms

yamberry yamless yamlike yampee

Phrases

aerial yam air yam afoo yam betel yam bitter yam cheeky yam Chinese yam common yam

Frequently Paired Words

danger yam tom yam yam plan yam slam yam yam

Synonyms

yam plant

Rhymes With

am damn sam ma'am exam ram dam jam ham cam spam lamb

Questions

How do you pronounce yam?: The recorded pronunciation is /jæm/.
What does yam mean?: Any climbing vine of the genus Dioscorea in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, usually cultivated.
Where does yam come from?: It is traced to Spanish.

How to pronounce yam

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “yam”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/jæm/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “yam”.
Repeat and practice — Say “yam” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.