yam

1. 1.

   edible tuber of any of several yams

   Broadertuber
2. 2.

   any of a number of tropical vines of the genus Dioscorea many having edible tuberous roots

   Synonymsyam plant

   Broadervine

   Narrowerwhite yamcinnamon vineair potatocush-cush

   Part ofDioscorea
3. 3.

   sweet potato with deep orange flesh that remains moist when baked

   Broadersweet potato
4. 4.

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

   Broaderroot vegetable

Other forms of yam

plural

yams·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about yam

What does yam mean?

yam means "edible tuber of any of several yams". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in yam?

yam has 1 syllable: yam. In IPA it is /ˈjæm/.

What is another word for yam?

Close synonyms include yam plant. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is yam a common word?

yam is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.