Yah"wist (?), n. Also Jah"vist (&?;), Jah"wist, older Je*ho"vist. The author of the passages of the Old Testament, esp. those of the Hexateuch, in which God is styled Yahweh, or Jehovah; the author of the Yahwistic, or Jehovistic, Prophetic Document (J); also, the document itself.
Ya*kut" (?), n. The Turkish language of the Yakuts, a Mongolian people of northeastern Siberia, which is lingua franca over much of eastern Siberia.
Yam, n. (Bot.) Any one of several cultural varieties of the sweet potato. [U. S.]
Ya"men (?), n. [Chin. ya a civil or military court + men a gate.] In China, the official headquarters or residence of a mandarin, including court rooms, offices, gardens, prisons, etc.; the place where the business of any public department is transcated.
Yard (?), n. (Zoöl.) A place where moose or deer herd together in winter for pasture, protection, etc.
Yau*ti"a (?), n. [Native name in the Antilles.] In Porto Rico, any of several araceous plants or their starchy edible roots, which are cooked and eaten like yams or potatoes, as the taro.
Yawi (?), n. A fore-and-aft-rigged vessel with a mainmast stepped a little farther forward than in a sloop and carrying a mainsail and jibs, with a jigger mast far aft, usually placed abaft the rudder post.
Yaz"oo Fraud (?). (U. S. Hist.) The grant by the State of Georgia, by Act of Jan. 7, 1795, of 35,000,000 acres of her western territory, for $500,000, to four companies known as the Yazoo Companies from the region granted ; -- commonly so called, the act being known as the Yazoo Frauds Act, because of alleged corruption of the legislature, every member but one being a shareholder in one or more of the companies. The act granting the land was repealed in 1796 by a new legislature, and the repealing provision was incorporated in the State constitution in 1798. In 1802 the territory was ceded to the United States. The claims of the purchasers, whom Georgia had refused to compensate, were sustained by the United States Supreme Court, which (1810) declared the repealing act of 1796 unconstitutional. Congress in 1814 ordered the lands sold and appropriated $5,000,000 to pay the claims.
Y current. (Elec.) The current through one branch of the star arrangement of a three-phase circuit.
Year's purchase (?). The amount that is yielded by the annual income of property; -- used in expressing the value of a thing in the number of years required for its income to yield its purchase price, in reckoning the amount to be paid for annuities, etc.
Yel"low, a. 1. Cowardly; hence, dishonorable; mean; contemptible; as, he has a yellow streak. [Slang]
2. Sensational; -- said of some newspapers, their makers, etc.; as, yellow journal, journalism, etc. [Colloq.]
Yellow Book. [F. livre jaune.] In France, an official government publication bound in yellow covers.
Yel"ting (?), n. [Orig. uncert.] The Florida and West Indian red snapper (Lutianus aya); also, sometimes, one of certain other allied species, as L. caxis.
Yeo"man*ry, n. A British volunteer cavalry force, growing out of a royal regiment of fox hunters raised by Yorkshire gentlemen in 1745 to fight the Pretender, Charles Edward. The members furnish their own horses, have fourteen days' annual camp training, and receive pay and allowance when on duty. In 1901 the name was altered to imperial yeomanry in recognition of the services of the force in the Boer war. See Army organization, above.
Yid (?), n. [See Yiddish.] A Jew. [Slang or Colloq.] "Almost any young Yid who goes out from among her people." John Corbin.
Yid"dish (?), n. [G. jüdisch, prop., Jewish, fr. Jude Jew. See Jew, Jewish.] A language used by German and other Jews, being a Middle German dialect developed under Hebrew and Slavic influence. It is written in Hebrew characters.