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Yam in Scrabble and Meaning

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What does yam mean? Is yam a Scrabble word?

How many points in Scrabble is yam worth? yam how many points in Words With Friends? What does yam mean? Get all these answers on this page.

Scrabble® and Words with Friends® points for yam

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Is yam a Scrabble word?

Yes. The word yam is a Scrabble US word. The word yam is worth 8 points in Scrabble:

Y4A1M3

Is yam a Scrabble UK word?

Yes. The word yam is a Scrabble UK word and has 8 points:

Y4A1M3

Is yam a Words With Friends word?

Yes. The word yam is a Words With Friends word. The word yam is worth 8 points in Words With Friends (WWF):

Y3A1M4

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3-letter words (2 found)

MAY,YAM,

2-letter words (5 found)

AM,AY,MA,MY,YA,

You can make 7 words from yam according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

All 3 letters words made out of yam

yam aym yma mya amy may

Note: these 'words' (valid or invalid) are all the permutations of the word yam. These words are obtained by scrambling the letters in yam.

Definitions and meaning of yam

yam

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) enPR: yăm, IPA(key): /jæm/
  • Rhymes: -æm

Etymology 1

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

Noun

yam (plural yams)

  1. Any climbing vine of the genus Dioscorea in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, usually cultivated.
  2. The edible, starchy, tuberous root of that plant, a tropical staple food.
  3. (US) A sweet potato; a tuber from the species Ipomoea batatas.
  4. (Scotland) A potato.
  5. (New Zealand) A oca; a tuber from the species Oxalis tuberosa.
  6. (Malaysia, Singapore) Taro.
  7. An orange-brown colour, like the flesh of the yam. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Usage notes

Careful use distinguishes yams (genus Dioscorea) from sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas), while casual American use conflates these.

Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Alternative form of hjem. Likely caused by influence from Old Norse heim (“home, homewards”), the accusative form of heimr (“abode, world, land”), from Proto-Germanic *haimaz. More at home.

Noun

yam (plural yams)

  1. (regional, Cumberland) Home.

Etymology 3

Verb

yam

  1. Pronunciation spelling of am.

Etymology 4

Ultimately from Fula nyaamude (“to eat”) or a cognate Fula-Wolof term.

Verb

yam (third-person singular simple present yams, present participle yamming, simple past and past participle yammed)

  1. (UK, nonstandard, slang) To eat.

Etymology 5

Apparently a variation of jam (“dunk”, verb).

Verb

yam (third-person singular simple present yams, present participle yamming, simple past and past participle yammed)

  2. (especially basketball) To dunk on; to beat humiliatingly.
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:yam.

Further reading

  • Jonathon Green (2024) “yam n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
  • Jonathon Green (2024) “yam v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang

See also

Anagrams

  • Amy, MYA, May, Mya, may, mya

Aleut

Noun

yam

  1. (Eastern) yesterday

References

  • 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Azerbaijani

Etymology

See yamçı.

Pronunciation

Noun

yam (definite accusative yamı, plural yamlar)

  1. (historical) mail staging post

Declension

Derived terms

  • yamçı

Further reading

  • “yam” in Obastan.com.

Beja

Noun

yám

  1. water

References

  • Klaus and Charlotte Wedekind, Abuzeinab Musa, Beja Pedagogical Grammar (2005)
  • Etudes berbères et chamito-sémitiques: mélanges offerts à Karl-G. Prasse (2000, →ISBN, page 38
  • Václav Blažek, A Lexicostatistical comparison of Omotic languages, in In Hot Pursuit of Language in Prehistory: Essays in the four fields of anthropology, page 122

Buwal

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

  • Mélanie Viljoen, Michael Viljoen, Pascal Konai, François Mbouvai, Ernest Koyang, Benjamin Deli, Précis d’orthographe pour la langue buwal - Édition préliminaire (2009, Yaoundé, SIL Cameroun)

Cuvok

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

  • ASJP
  • Olga Stolbova, Chadic Lexical Database, issue II (2007): yam "water"

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English yam.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /jɑm/
  • Hyphenation: yam
  • Rhymes: -ɑm

Noun

yam m (plural yams or yammen, diminutive yammetje n)

  1. yam, a tropical vine
  2. its edible root

Synonyms

  • jam
  • yamswortel

Lashi

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /jam/

Postposition

yam

  1. beside

References

  • Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎[2], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Merey

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

  • Richard Gravina (compiler); Alan Boydell, Elie Doumok (facilitators), Merey lexicon (2003, SIL)

Middle English

Pronoun

yam

  1. (Northern, northern East Midlands) Alternative form of þem (“them”)

Mofu-Gudur

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

  • Topics in Mofu-Gudur (SIL)

North Giziga

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

  • Etudes berbères et chamito-sémitiques: mélanges offerts à Karl-G. Prasse (2000, →ISBN, page 38

Pnar

Etymology

From Proto-Khasian *jaːm, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *jaam. Cognate with Khasi ïam, Blang jàm, Khmu [Cuang] jaːm, Mang ɲaːm¹, Mon ယာံ, Khmer យំ (yum).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /jam/

Verb

yam

  1. to cry, to weep

South Giziga

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

  • Etudes berbères et chamito-sémitiques: mélanges offerts à Karl-G. Prasse (2000, →ISBN, page 38

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English yam.

Noun

yam

  1. yam

Yimchungru Naga

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-j(i/u)m.

Noun

yam

  1. house

Zulgo-Gemzek

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

yam

  1. water

References

  • An Outline Sketch of Gemzek Grammar
  • An Overview of Gemzek Narrative Discourse Features

Source: wiktionary.org