Plural of yam; starchy root vegetables similar to sweet potatoes, originally from Africa and Asia.
From Yoruba (West African language) 'nyama' or Portuguese 'inhame,' both referring to the plant. The word traveled with the slave trade and African diaspora, becoming common in English by the 1600s.
Yams became associated with African-American cuisine and Thanksgiving because enslaved Africans brought yam cultivation knowledge to the Americas—the word itself is a linguistic echo of the African diaspora.
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