dioscorea

dioscorea — noun

1. a climbing plant in the scientific group that includes yams, usually found in wa

1.名詞C2
釋義

a climbing plant in the scientific group that includes yams, usually found in warm regions and known for net-patterned leaves and separate male and female flowers

例句

The botany label beside the yam vine identified it as a Dioscorea species.

scientific naming: Dioscorea species

Farm workers stacked bamboo poles so the young dioscorea could climb in straight rows.

grow dioscorea as a climbing vine

同義詞
  • yam

    the everyday name for the better-known edible members of this genus, not the formal scientific label

  • wild yam

    usually names a particular uncultivated species rather than the whole genus

  • yam vine

    an informal descriptive label for an individual climbing plant, not the taxonomic group

文法句型

a dioscorea species

grow dioscorea

dioscorea leaves

用法筆記

This sense appears mainly in botanical labels, field guides, and scientific writing. In ordinary conversation, people usually say yam or wild yam unless they need the exact genus name.

常見錯誤

❌Dioscorea is one kind of potato.
✅Dioscorea is the plant group that includes yams.
💡yams belong to a different botanical group from potatoes.
❌This dioscorea tree grows fast in the rain.
✅This dioscorea vine grows fast in the rain.
💡dioscorea plants grow as vines or herb-like climbers, not trees.

2. the dried underground stem taken from a wild yam plant, once prepared as a remed

2.名詞C2
釋義

the dried underground stem taken from a wild yam plant, once prepared as a remedy for liver trouble and painful joints

例句

The herbal drawer held a paper packet of dried dioscorea beside the old scales.

dried dioscorea in a herbal-medicine setting

An apothecary ground the dioscorea into powder before mixing the bitter drink.

grind dioscorea into powder

同義詞
  • wild yam

    names the plant itself more often than the dried medicinal material

  • rhizome

    a broader botanical term for an underground stem, without the herbal-use meaning

  • herbal root

    an imprecise everyday label; this material is specifically a rhizome, not any medicinal root

文法句型

dried dioscorea

grind dioscorea into powder

use dioscorea in a remedy

用法筆記

This sense belongs to older herbal and historical medical writing rather than modern everyday English. Writers often mention that the material is dried, because the medicinal sense refers to the prepared underground stem, not the living plant in general.

常見錯誤

❌Fresh dioscorea was used in the old remedy.
✅Dried dioscorea was used in the old remedy.
💡this sense refers to the prepared dried stem used for medicine.
❌The cook chopped dioscorea for dinner.
✅The cook chopped yam for dinner.
💡this sense names a medicinal rhizome, not the everyday food use of yam.