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Glite Dictionary
water yam

water yam

6.6
A large root vegetable grown on Pacific islands with soft white inside
  • noun
  • Australian
translation icon : ñame de agua
  • The water yam is a staple ingredient in many Pacific Island recipes.

Examples

  • Unlike sweet potatoes, water yam has a distinctive white interior when cooked.

  • I bought a water yam at the local market.

  • Farmers harvested a bumper crop of water yam this year.

  • The water yams from Australia are delicious.

  • Farmers harvested a bumper crop of water yam this year.

  • The water yam is a staple ingredient in many Pacific Island recipes.

  • Unlike sweet potatoes, water yam has a distinctive white interior when cooked.

Synonyms

yam
vswater yam
26 1.0

A large starchy underground root that people eat in warm countries

is a specific regional type known for large roots with fine white flesh
white yam
vswater yam
  • Australian
4.5

A large starchy root with white flesh used for cooking

has the same meaning but serves as an alternative regional name
Dioscorea alata
vswater yam
  • Specialized
9.9

A yam from Southeast Asia with large starchy roots often purple or white inside

has consistently fine white flesh rather than variable colours

Surface Forms

water yam singular
water yams plural

Morphology

water + yam

This is a straightforward noun–noun compound where 'water' modifies 'yam' to indicate a variety or yam associated with water (e.g., grown in wet conditions). The meaning is literal and compositionally derivable from the constituents, following common cross‑linguistic compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows 'water' and 'yam' can infer it.

Etymology

Water yam likely comes from people finding this large yam growing near water, such as rivers and ponds. So the name came to mean 'a yam that likes wet ground' and today it simply refers to that kind of edible yam.