Part 7

Yachts"man (?), n.; pl. Yachtsmen (&?;). One who owns or sails a yacht; a yachter.

Yaf (?), obs. imp. of Give. [AS. geaf, imp. of giefan to give. See Give] Gave. See Give. Chaucer.

Yaf"fin*gale (?), n. [See Yaffle, and cf. Nightingale.] (Zoöl.) The yaffle. [Prov. Eng.]

Yaf"fle (?), n. [Probably imitative of its call or cry.] (Zoöl.) The European green woodpecker (Picus, or Genius, viridis). It is noted for its loud laughlike note. Called also eccle, hewhole, highhoe, laughing bird, popinjay, rain bird, yaffil, yaffler, yaffingale, yappingale, yackel, and woodhack.

Ya"ger (?; 277), n. [G. jäger a hunter, from jagen to chase, hunt.] (Mil.) In the German army, one belonging to a body of light infantry armed with rifles, resembling the chasseur of the French army. [Written also jager.]

Ya`gua*run"di (?), n. (Zoöl.) Same as Jaguarondi. [Written also yaguarondi, and yagouarondi.]

||Yaj"ur-Ve"da (yj"ûr-v`d or -v`d), n. [Skr. yajur- vda.] See Veda.

Yak (yk), n. [Thibetan gyag.] (Zoöl.) A bovine mammal (Poëphagus grunnies) native of the high plains of Central Asia. Its neck, the outer side of its legs, and its flanks, are covered with long, flowing, fine hair. Its tail is long and bushy, often white, and is valued as an ornament and for other purposes in India and China. There are several domesticated varieties, some of which lack the mane and the long hair on the flanks. Called also chauri gua, grunting cow, grunting ox, sarlac, sarlik, and sarluc.

Yak lace, a coarse pillow lace made from the silky hair of the yak.

Yak"a*milk (?), n. (Zoöl.) See Trumpeter, 3 (a).

Yak"a*re` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Same as Yacare.

Ya"kin (?), n. (Zoöl.) A large Asiatic antelope (Budorcas taxicolor) native of the higher parts of the Himalayas and other lofty mountains. Its head and neck resemble those of the ox, and its tail is like that of the goat. Called also budorcas.

Ya*koots" (?), n. pl.; sing. Yakoot (&?;). (Ethnol.) A nomadic Mongolian tribe native of Northern Siberia, and supposed to be of Turkish stock. They are mainly pastoral in their habits. [Written also Yakuts.]

||Yak"sha (?), n. [Skr.] (Hindoo Myth.) A kind of demigod attendant on Kuvera, the god of wealth.

Ya"lah (?), n. The oil of the mahwa tree.

Yam (ym), n. [Pg. inhame, probably from some native name.] (Bot.) A large, esculent, farinaceous tuber of various climbing plants of the genus Dioscorea; also, the plants themselves. Mostly natives of warm climates. The plants have netted-veined, petioled leaves, and pods with three broad wings. The commonest species is D. sativa, but several others are cultivated.

Chinese yam, a plant (Dioscorea Batatas) with a long and slender tuber, hardier than most of the other species. -- Wild yam. (a) A common plant (Dioscorea villosa) of the Eastern United States, having a hard and knotty rootstock. (b) An orchidaceous plant (Gastrodia sesamoides) of Australia and Tasmania.

||Ya"ma (?), n. [Skr. yama a twin.] (Hindoo Myth.) The king of the infernal regions, corresponding to the Greek Pluto, and also the judge of departed souls. In later times he is more exclusively considered the dire judge of all, and the tormentor of the wicked. He is represented as of a green color, with red garments, having a crown on his head, his eyes inflamed, and sitting on a buffalo, with a club and noose in his hands.

Yam"ma (?), n. [See Llama.] (Zoöl.) The llama.

Yamp (?), n. (Bot.) An umbelliferous plant (Carum Gairdneri); also, its small fleshy roots, which are eaten by the Indians from Idaho to California.

Yang (?), n. [Of imitative origin.] The cry of the wild goose; a honk.

Yang, v. i. To make the cry of the wild goose.

Yank (?), n. [Cf. Scot. yank a sudden and severe blow.] A jerk or twitch. [Colloq. U. S.]

Yank, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Yanked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Yanking.] To twitch; to jerk. [Colloq. U. S.]

Yank, n. An abbreviation of Yankee. [Slang]

Yan"kee (?), n. [Commonly considered to be a corrupt pronunciation of the word English, or of the French word Anglais, by the native Indians of America. According to Thierry, a corruption of Jankin, a diminutive of John, and a nickname given to the English colonists of Connecticut by the Dutch settlers of New York. Dr. W. Gordon ("Hist. of the Amer. War," ed, 1789, vol. i., pp. 324, 325) says it was a favorite cant word in Cambridge, Mass., as early as 1713, and that it meant excellent; as, a yankee good horse, yankee good cider, etc. Cf. Scot yankie a sharp, clever, and rather bold woman, and Prov. E. bow-yankees a kind of leggins worn by agricultural laborers.] A nickname for a native or citizen of New England, especially one descended from old New England stock; by extension, an inhabitant of the Northern States as distinguished from a Southerner; also, applied sometimes by foreigners to any inhabitant of the United States.

From meanness first this Portsmouth Yankey rose, And still to meanness all his conduct flows.

Oppression, A poem by an American (Boston, 1765).