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

The findings were published in the journal Science Advances in the paper, "Pseudomonads associated to salt-stressed plants facilitate stress adaption of soybean through enhanced lignin biosynthesis."

From Science Daily ● Jun. 29, 2026

Sticky, translucent strings dangle from Wesley Smith's chopsticks as the American tourist relishes his natto, the loved-and-hated Japanese fermented soybean superfood going global one slimy mouthful at a time.

From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026

Projections for Brazilian corn exceeded the average outlook from analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal by more than 2 million tons, while Argentinian soybean output beat expectations by 1.4 million tons.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Vegetable-oil prices instead fell 4.6%—the first monthly decline since the beginning of the year—dragged by lower palm and soybean oil prices, which outweighed gains in rapeseed and sunflower oils.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

How could I explain to Anatole about soybean fields where men sat in huge tractors like kings on thrones, taming the soil from one horizon to the other?

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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

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

Corn falls 1.1%, soybeans drop 0.4%, and wheat is down 1.5%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

I teach classes in nutrition, sanitation, and soybeans, to women who respectfully call me Mama Ngemba and ignore nine-tenths of what I tell them.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver