yam

/jæm/

/jæm/

Other forms: yams

A yam is a starchy vegetable that grows underground. Yams are similar to potatoes — they can be baked, boiled, mashed, grated, or cut into chunks.

In North America, a yam is the same thing as a sweet potato, although in most parts of the world these words refer to two completely different vegetables. Yams have flesh that ranges in color from white to deep orange and tastes slightly sweet. The word yam started as igname, from the Portuguese inhame, from a West African source.

Definitions of yam

1. noun

   any of a number of tropical vines of the genus Dioscorea many having edible tuberous roots
   synonyms: yam plant

   types:

   Dioscorea alata, water yam, white yam

   grown in Australasia and Polynesia for its large root with fine edible white flesh

   Chinese yam, Dioscorea batata, cinnamon vine

   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

   Dioscorea bulbifera, air potato

   yam of tropical Africa and Asia cultivated for it large tubers

   Dioscorea trifida, cush-cush

   tropical American yam with small yellow edible tubers

   type of:

   vine

   a plant with a weak stem that derives support from climbing, twining, or creeping along a surface
2. noun

   edible tuberous root of various yam plants of the genus Dioscorea grown in the tropics world-wide for food
   type of:

   root vegetable

   any of various fleshy edible underground roots or tubers
3. noun

   edible tuber of any of several yams
   type of:

   tuber

   a fleshy underground stem or root serving for reproductive and food storage
4. noun

   sweet potato with deep orange flesh that remains moist when baked
   type of:

   sweet potato

   the edible tuberous root of the sweet potato vine which is grown widely in warm regions of the United States