soy sauce

American  

[soi saws] / ˈsɔɪ ˌsɔs /

especially British, soya sauce

noun

soy sauces plural

1. a salty, fermented sauce prepared from soybeans, used in East Asian cuisine.

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soy sauce British  

/ sɔɪ /

noun

1. Also called: soya sauce.  a salty dark brown sauce made from fermented soya beans, used esp in Japanese and Chinese cookery

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• soy sauces
  plural

Etymology

Origin of soy sauce

First recorded in 1785–95

Example Sentences

He tweaks the flavor by adding fresh ingredients, including fish sauce, soy sauce, chunks of beef and sachets of Chinese herbs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 30, 2026

Each typically contains little plastic sachets of mustard and soy sauce.

From Barron's • Jun. 22, 2026

Stir well, then season with soy sauce, a few grinds of black pepper and salt as needed.

From Salon • May 19, 2026

Plus, tech stocks power the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to new records, and a soy sauce maker is one of the few still using ancient techniques.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

I remember how the air smelled like French fries and soy sauce from the food court.

From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy