soybean

especially British, soy·a bean

[soi-been]

noun

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of soybean¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; soy + bean

Example Sentences

The White House said China agreed to purchase at least 12 million metric tons of American soybeans in the last two months of 2025, and suspend retaliatory tariffs on various US agriculture products.

Read more on Barron's

On the trade front, the U.S.-China deal reduced tariffs on imported Chinese items, simplified access to Chinese rare-earth elements and restarted Chinese purchases of American soybeans, which buoyed markets.

Read more on MarketWatch

The nations also reached agreements on US soybean exports, the supply of rare earth minerals, and the materials used in production of the drug fentanyl.

Read more on BBC

China agreed to resume buying U.S. soybeans, and the U.S. halved its 20% fentanyl-related tariffs in return for Beijing doing more to curb flows of precursors.

Read more on Barron's

Steep fertilizer costs and low soybean prices have made it hard to make ends meet this year.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal