chernozem

[chur-nuh-zem, chair-, chyir-nuh-zyawm]

noun

1. a soil common in cool or temperate semiarid climates, very black and rich in humus and carbonates.

chernozem

/ ˈtʃɜːnəʊˌzɛm /

noun

1. a black soil, rich in humus and carbonates, in cool or temperate semiarid regions, as the grasslands of Russia

Word History and Origins

Origin of chernozem¹

1835–45; < Russian chernozëm, equivalent to chërn ( yĭ ) black + -o- -o- + -zëm, variant, in compounds, of zemlyá earth, land; humus

Word History and Origins

Origin of chernozem¹

from Russian, contraction of chernaya zemlya black earth

Example Sentences

Ukraine's most fertile soil - called chernozem - has suffered the most, the institute found.

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Chernozem is richer than other soils in nutrients such as humus, phosphorus and nitrogen and extends deep into the ground, as much as 1.5 metres.

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Standing in mud by the missile crater — 9 feet deep and triple that in width — was a policeman with a clipboard, flanked by another policeman and two soldiers, taking turns digging out missile fragments from the black chernozem soil and recording what serial numbers they could discern off the components they recovered.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

This area has naturally occurring “chernozem” – black soil – and is part of one of two chernozem belts in the world – the other stretching across part of eastern Europe and Russia.

Read more on The Guardian

When man plows a chernozem, his wheat or corn thrive mightily.

Read more on Time Magazine Archive