nyam

See also: Nyam

English

Verb

nyam (third-person singular simple present nyams, present participle nyamming, simple past and past participle nyammed)

1. (Jamaica) To eat.

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɲam]

Etymology 1

Probably from Wolof ñàmbi (“cassava”) or a related word. Compare Spanish ñame.

Noun

nyam m (plural nyams)

1. yam (edible root of Dioscorea vine)

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic

Noun

nyam

1. (childish) food

Derived terms

• fer nyam
• nyam-nyam

Further reading

• “nyam” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “nyam”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “nyam” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

Borrowed from Wolof nyam, nyami, nyamnyam (“food; to eat”), or from Fula nyama, nyami, nyamgo (“to eat”). Possibly via Ghanaian Pidgin English. Cognate of Sranan Tongo nyan (“food; to eat”). Many other West African languages use similar terms for "flesh" or "meat", such as: Chichewa nyama, Efik unam, Esimbi ɛnyimi, Hausa nama, Lingala nyama, Swahili nyama, and Zulu inyama. Also compare Hausa nyamnyam, yamyam (“cannibal”) and Luba-Kasai nyama (“animal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɲam/

Noun

nyam

1. food, meal

Verb

nyam

1. to eat (eat)

   Dem man nyam di whole ah di bread. And wan' come gi' wi crumbs.

   Those guys ate all of the bread, and now they want to give us crumbs.

2. to consume, use up, (wastefully) spend, waste (waste)

   We cyaan nyam everything weh we get. Wi haffi save some and invest some.

   We shouldn't waste everything we get. We have to save and invest some of it.

   Me jus go home and nyam di money.

   I just went home. Then I spent all the money.

Related terms

• eat
• nyam up
• dawg nyam yuh suppa

References

• Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 410
• nyam – jamaicans.com Jamaican Patois dictionary
• nyam at majstro.com
• Huber, Magnus (1999) Ghanaian Pidgin English in Its West African Context, John Benjamins Publishing, →ISBN, page 102
• Cassidy, Frederic Gomes, Le Page, Robert Brock, editors (2002), Dictionary of Jamaican English, 2nd edition, University of the West Indies Press, →ISBN, page 325
• Sheller, Mimi (2003) Consuming the Caribbean: From Arawaks to Zombies, Routledge, →ISBN

Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

nyam

1. yam

References

• Nigerian Pidgin by Nicholas Faraclas, publ. Routledge, 1996

Sranan Tongo

Verb

nyam

1. Pronunciation spelling of nyan.

Noun

nyam

1. Pronunciation spelling of nyan.