chernozem

American  

[chur-nuh-zem, chair-, chyir-nuh-zyawm] / ˈtʃɜr nəˌzɛm, ˈtʃɛər-, tʃyɪr nʌˈzyɔm /

noun

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

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chernozem British  

/ ˈtʃɜːnəʊˌzɛm /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of chernozem

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

Example Sentences

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

From Reuters • Mar. 1, 2023

In the grasslands of the dry southern parts of the prairie provinces and in some of the drier parts of southern B.C., dark brown organic-rich chernozem soils are dominant.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

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

From Time Magazine Archive

Gradually the thin, sour forest soil turns into something like chernozem.

From Time Magazine Archive

A degraded chernozem called smolnitsa, or pitch soil, predominates in the Thracian Plain, the Tundzha and Burgas lowlands, and the Sofia Basin.

From Area Handbook for Bulgaria by Baluyut, Violeta D.