Entry · catalog no. 7022
yam
/ /jæm/ /YAM
n. · West African retention; Black American South · 1600s
✓ Verified
1.
A starchy edible tuber; in the American South, often the name given to the sweet potato. The word descends from West African languages.
“Candied yams on the table every holiday.”
Origin & Attribution
From the West African root nyam — Wolof and Serer for "food" or "to eat," Fula nyami "to eat" — carried into English through the transatlantic trade (by way of Portuguese inhame) as early as the 1600s. In the American South the word lived on in Black and Gullah speech and became the everyday name for the sweet potato. An African word so old in English that its origin is rarely known.
1600s
Enters English via West African nyam and Portuguese inhame
19th-20th c.
Standard in Black Southern and Gullah kitchens for the sweet potato
present
General American usage; African root seldom credited
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
West African retention; Black American South · 1600s
Spoken by
Black South; Gullah-Geechee
$YAMThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady369 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
65/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1657
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
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Citations & Sources
■
Etymology: Wolof/Fula nyam ('food; to eat') — VOA Learning English, 'Many Food Names in English Come From Africa'
2018
■
+ Cite a sourceMerriam-Webster etymology, 'yam' (West African origin)
2023
See also