soil

¹

[ soil ]

noun

1. the portion of the earth's surface consisting of disintegrated rock and humus.
2. a particular kind of earth:

   sandy soil.

3. the ground as producing vegetation or as cultivated for its crops:

   fertile soil.

4. a country, land, or region:

   an act committed on American soil.

5. the ground or earth:

   tilling the soil.

6. any place or condition providing the opportunity for growth or development:

   Some believe that poverty provides the soil for crime.

soil

²

[ soil ]

verb (used with object)

1. to make unclean, dirty, or filthy, especially on the surface:

   to soil one's clothes.

2. to smirch, smudge, or stain:

   The ink soiled his hands.

3. to sully or tarnish, as with disgrace; defile morally:

   to soil one's good name.

   Synonyms: debase, taint, blacken

verb (used without object)

1. to become soiled:

   White soils easily.

noun

1. the act or fact of soiling.
2. the state of being soiled.
3. a spot, mark, or stain.
4. dirty or foul matter; filth; sewage.
5. ordure; manure

soil

³

[ soil ]

verb (used with object)

1. to feed (confined cattle, horses, etc.) freshly cut green fodder for roughage.

soil

¹

/ sɔɪl /

verb

1. tr to feed (livestock) freshly cut green fodder either to fatten or purge them

soil

²

/ sɔɪl /

noun

1. See horizon, intrazonal soil, azonal soil, zonal soil
   the top layer of the land surface of the earth that is composed of disintegrated rock particles, humus, water, and air See zonal soil azonal soil intrazonal soil horizon horizon telluric
2. a type of this material having specific characteristics

   loamy soil

3. land, country, or region

   one's native soil

4. the soil
   the soil life and work on a farm; land

   he belonged to the soil, as his forefathers had

5. any place or thing encouraging growth or development

soil

³

/ sɔɪl /

verb

1. to make or become dirty or stained
2. tr to pollute with sin or disgrace; sully; defile

   he soiled the family honour by his cowardice

noun

1. the state or result of soiling
2. refuse, manure, or excrement

soil

/ soil /

1. The loose top layer of the Earth's surface, consisting of rock and mineral particles mixed with decayed organic matter (humus), and capable of retaining water, providing nutrients for plants, and supporting a wide range of biotic communities. Soil is formed by a combination of depositional, chemical, and biological processes and plays an important role in the carbon, nitrogen, and hydrologic cycles. Soil types vary widely from one region to another, depending on the type of bedrock they overlie and the climate in which they form. In wet and humid regions, for example, soils tend to be thicker than they do in dry regions.
2. See more at A horizonSee illustration at ABC soil

soil

1. Material on the surface of the Earth on which plants can grow. ( See topsoil .)

Notes

Soil is produced by the weathering of rocks.

Other Words From

• soilless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of soil¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English soil, soil(l)e “land, native land, piece of ground, earth, soil,” from Anglo-French soil, soyl, variants of Old French sueil, souil, from Latin solium “high-backed chair, throne, seat,” confused with solum “base, foundation, ground”; sole ²( def )

Origin of soil²

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English verb soilen, soil(l)e “to dirty,” from Old French soillier, soullier, suillier, from Vulgar Latin suculāre, (unrecorded) “to wallow like a pig,” derivative verb of suculus or sucula, diminutives of sus “pig, sow”; sow ², -cle ¹

Origin of soil³

First recorded in 1600–10; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of soil¹

C17: perhaps from obsolete vb (C16) soil to manure, from soil ² (n)

Origin of soil²

C14: from Anglo-Norman, from Latin solium a seat, but confused with Latin solum the ground

Origin of soil³

C13: from Old French soillier to defile, from soil pigsty, probably from Latin sūs a swine

Example Sentences

To take care of the problem for real, the firefighters on the ground might cut down the tree, and break it up, and stir up the soil to make sure everything is out, and dig lines around it.

From Popular-Science

The US, through a government initiative called Operation Warp Speed, has already spent more than $5 billion to get drug makers to manufacture vaccines on its soil.

From MIT Technology Review

“This entire biosphere of cells, equivalent in size to the world’s soils, hardly has enough energy to survive,” said James Bradley, a geobiologist at Queen Mary University of London and the lead author of the new modeling study.

From Quanta Magazine

Instruments on the rover and lander will test Mars’ soil composition and magnetic and gravitational fields and will probe Mars’ interior.

From Science News

The Water Authority said its sales earlier this year dropped 14 percent, in part because Southern California had a really nice, wet winter, meaning the reservoirs and soils aren’t as parched as they have been during past droughts.

From Voice of San Diego

Marx forecast that the profit motive would lead to overworking and exhausting the fertility of our soil and other natural systems.

From The Daily Beast

The others are difficult to identify, since they reacted with other oxygen-bearing molecules in the soil.

From The Daily Beast

Under the new requirements, simply being born on U.S. soil would no longer be enough.

From The Daily Beast

The ground was fertile, with alluvial, or unconsolidated, soil.

From The Daily Beast

In an interview with The Daily Beast in September, Paul said he was against the idea of U.S. forces on Middle East soil.

From The Daily Beast

Eggs and nestlings were found lying on the bare soil at the inner ends of the burrows; no nesting material was found.

From Project Gutenberg

This has a warm though a thin soil, which must be highly favorable to the Vine to induce so exclusive a devotion to it.

From Project Gutenberg

Whatever the species, it is well to imitate the natural conditions as much as possible in the way of soil.

From Project Gutenberg

For instance, the Limestone Polypody is not happy unless there is a certain amount of lime present in the soil.

From Project Gutenberg

Broken crocks should be strewn upon the tray, and on to this is heaped peaty soil mixed with sand.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• besmirch
• contaminate
• debase
• degrade
• muddy
• pollute
• smear
• smudge
• sully
• taint
• tar
• tarnish