soybean

American  

[soi-been] / ˈsɔɪˌbin /

especially British, soya bean

noun

soybeans plural

1. a bushy Old World plant, Glycine max, of the legume family, cultivated globally, with greatest productivity in the United States, where it is grown chiefly for forage and soil improvement.

2. the seed of this plant, used for food, as a livestock feed, and for a variety of other commercial uses.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• soybeans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of soybean

First recorded in 1795–1805; soy + bean

Explanation

Prized for its high protein content and adaptable for many cooking and industrial products, the soybean is the most valuable member of the pea family. A legume native to Asia, the soybean is incredibly important, providing essential vegetable protein for millions of people around the world. Soybeans are transformed into various foods like tofu, soy milk, and soy sauce, making them a staple in the diets of people who do not or cannot eat animal protein. Beyond food, soybeans are used in animal feed and as ingredients in hundreds of chemical products, including biodiesel and plastics.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

soybean soybeans

“It’s almost like the wild west to see who gets there first,” said Philip Nelson, president of the Illinois Farm Bureau and a fourth-generation corn and soybean farmer in Seneca, Ill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

The corn estimates are lower than anticipated by analysts this month, while the wheat estimate is slightly higher and the soybean estimate lower.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

The team then introduced selected pseudomonad strains to soybean plants.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 29, 2026

U.S. soybean futures rose 3.3%, with corn and wheat up 4.5%, but past Chinese trade deal commitments often fell short.

From Barron's ● May 18, 2026

From her plate he picked up the oil stick she hadn’t eaten yet, dipped it in the soybean milk.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

Large-scale commodity crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans — which go into myriad processed foods as well as into sweeteners and animal feed — behave a little differently, he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026

The outlook for U.S. ending stocks was also adjusted for 2026, pegging corn at 1.79 billion bushels, soybeans at 310 million bushels, and wheat at 722 million bushels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

One such chemical is sulfoxaflor, a next generation pesticide introduced in 2013 to eliminate sap feeding insects such as aphids on crops including soybeans and corn.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026

Others say substitutes such as soybeans or kidney beans, suggested by an Iskcon official, are not widely eaten in the state and may not be readily accepted by students.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

I put the beets, two long rows of them, in the same field with the corn, next to the soybeans.

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien