[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.yule-burnell-1886) › c10.15908 # Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c10.15908 Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c10.15908 - **Language:** English ### [c10.15908](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.yule-burnell-1886.c10.15908) \*\*YAM\*\*, s. This general name in English of the large edible tuber \*Dioscorea\* seems to be a corruption of the name used in the W. Indies at the time of the discovery. \[Mr. Platt (9 ser. \*N. & Q.\* v. 226 seq.) suggests that the original form was \*nyam\* or \*nyami\*, in the sense of ‘food,’ \*nyami\* meaning ‘to eat’ in the Fulah language of Senegal. The cannibal \*Nyam-Nyams\*, of whom Miss Kingsley gives an account (\*Travels in W. Africa\*, 330 seq.) appear to take their name from the same word.\] - [Previous: c10.15907](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.yule-burnell-1886.c10.15907) - [Next: c10.15909](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.yule-burnell-1886.c10.15909) - [Up: c10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.yule-burnell-1886.c10) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.yule-burnell-1886.c10.15908](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.yule-burnell-1886.c10.15908) · Pramāṇa