soil
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soil¹
- /sɔɪl/
- [sɔɪ̯ɫ]
- /sɔɪ.əl/
- [sɔi̯əɫ]
- [sɔi̯l̩]
Rhymes with -ɔɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English soile, soyle, sule (“ground, earth”), partly from Anglo-Norman soyl (“bottom, ground, pavement”), from Latin solium (“seat, chair; throne”), mistaken for Latin solum (“ground, foundation, earth, sole of the foot”); and partly from Old English sol (“mud, mire, wet sand”), from Proto-Germanic *sulą (“mud, spot”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid”). Cognate with Middle Low German söle (“dirt, mud”), Middle Dutch sol (“dirt, filth”), Middle High German sol, söl (“dirt, mud, mire”), Danish søle (“mud, muck”). Compare French seuil (“level; threshold”) and sol (“soil, earth; ground”). See also sole, soal, solum.
For the sole and soil relation, compare typologically Russian по́чва (póčva) akin to подо́шва (podóšva).
noun soils · soyl
- A mixture of mineral particles and organic material, used to support plant growth. We bought a bag of soil for the houseplants.
- The unconsolidated mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants.
- The unconsolidated mineral or organic matter on the surface of the earth that has been subjected to and shows effects of genetic and environmental factors of: climate (including water and temperature effects), and macro- and microorganisms, conditioned by relief, acting on parent material over a period of time. A product-soil differs from the material from which it is derived in many physical, chemical, biological, and morphological properties and characteristics.
- Country or territory. Except during the season in town, she spends her year in golfing, either at St Magnus or Pau, for, like all good Americans, she has long since abjured her native soil.
- That which soils or pollutes; a stain. And ſince not only a dead Fathers fame, / But more a Ladies honour muſt be touch’d, / Which nice as Ermines will not bear a Soil ; / Let all retire ; that you alone may hear / What ev’n in whiſpers I won’d tell your ear.
- A marshy or miry place to which a hunted boar resorts for refuge; hence, a wet place, stream, or tract of water, sought for by other game, as deer. As Deere being ſtrucke flie thorow many ſoiles, / Yet ſtill the ſhaft ſitcks faſt, ſo ;
- Dung; compost; manure. night soil
- A food preparation with the texture and often color of soil.
soil²
- /sɔɪl/
- [sɔɪ̯ɫ]
- /sɔɪ.əl/
- [sɔi̯əɫ]
- [sɔi̯l̩]
Rhymes with -ɔɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English soilen, soulen, suylen (“to sully, make dirty”), partly from Old French soillier, souillier (“to soil, make dirty, wallow in mire”), from Old Frankish *saulijan, *sulwijan (“to make dirty, soil”); partly from Old English solian, sylian (“to soil, make dirty”), from Proto-Germanic *sulwōną, *sulwijaną, *saulijaną (“to soil, make dirty”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid”). Cognate with Old Frisian sulia (“to soil, mire”), Middle Dutch soluwen, seulewen (“to soil, besmirch”), Old High German solōn, bisulen (“to make dirty”), German suhlen (“to soil, make dirty”), Danish søle (“to make dirty, defile”), Swedish söla (“to soil, make dirty”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bisauljan, “to bemire”). Compare sully.
verb soils · soiling · soiled
-
To make dirty.
[…]Bad Fruit of Knowledge, if this be to know, / Which leaves us naked thus, of Honour void, / Of innocence, of Faith, of Puritie, / Our wonted Ornaments now ſoild and ſtaind, / And in our Faces evident the ſignes / Of foul concupiſcence ; whence eveil ſtore ; / Even ſhame, the laſt of evils ; of th
Similar: besmirch, dirty, smirch, assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befile, befilth, befoul
- To become dirty or soiled. Light colours soil sooner than dark ones.
- To stain or mar, as with infamy or disgrace; to tarnish; to sully. […]They clip vs drunkards, and with Swiniſh phraſe / Soyle our addition, and indeede it takes / From our atchieuements, though perform’d at height / The pith and marrow of our attribute[…]
- To dirty one's clothing by accidentally defecating while clothed. The child was so scared she soiled herself.
-
To make invalid, to ruin.
Similar: invalidate, ball up, blight, bumble, botch, bugger up, bungle, contaminate, corrupt, crab, deprave, disrupt
- To enrich with soil or muck; to manure. For to be kind to the former is traffic ; and in these times men present, just as they soil their ground, not that they love the dirt, but that they expect a crop : and for the latter, the politician well approves of the Indian’s religion, in worshiping the devil, that he may do him no hurt ; how mu
noun soils
-
Faeces or urine etc. when found on clothes.
Similar: dirt
- A bag containing soiled items.
soil³
- /sɔɪl/
- [sɔɪ̯ɫ]
- /sɔɪ.əl/
- [sɔi̯əɫ]
- [sɔi̯l̩]
Rhymes with -ɔɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English soyl, from Old French soil, souil (“quagmire, marsh”), from Frankish *sōlja, *saulja (“mire, miry place, wallow”), from Proto-Germanic *saulijō (“mud, puddle, feces”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid”).
Cognate with Old English syle, sylu, sylen (“miry place, wallow”), Old High German sol, gisol (“miry place”), German Suhle (“a wallow, mud pit, muddy pool”).
noun soils
- A wet or marshy place in which a boar or other such game seeks refuge when hunted.
soil⁴
- /sɔɪl/
- [sɔɪ̯ɫ]
- /sɔɪ.əl/
- [sɔi̯əɫ]
- [sɔi̯l̩]
Rhymes with -ɔɪl
Where it comes from
From Old French saoler, saouler (“to satiate”).
verb soils · soiling · soiled
- To feed, as cattle or horses, in the barn or an enclosure, with fresh grass or green food cut for them, instead of sending them out to pasture; hence (due to such food having the effect of purging them) to purge by feeding on green food. to soil a horse
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: dirt, colly, land, ground, grease, bemire, stain, begrime, filth, grime, dirty, loam, subsoil, terrain, sand, erosion
Translations
Every language
noun mixture of sand and organic material
| Español | suelo, tierra, mantillo, humus |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 흙 heuk, 토양 toyang |
| 日本語 | 土 tsuchi, 土壌 dojō, 地 chi |
| 中文 | 土壤 tǔrǎng, 泥土 nítǔ, 地 dì |
| हिन्दी | मिट्टी miṭṭī, धरती dhartī, ज़मीन zamīn |
| Kiswahili | mchanga |
| Português | solo |
| Français | sol, terre |
| Deutsch | Erde, Grund |
| Italiano | suolo, terra |
| Ελληνικά | έδαφος édafos |
| Română | sol |
| Русский | земля́ zemljá, по́чва póčva, грунт grunt |
| Tiếng Việt | đất |
| العربية | تُرْبَة turba, أَرْض ʔarḍ |
| עברית | אֲדָמָה adamá, עָפָר 'afár |
noun mineral or organic material serving as a natural medium for the growth of land plants
| Español | suelo, tierra, mantillo, humus |
|---|---|
| Português | solo, terra |
| Français | terre, sol |
| Deutsch | Boden |
| Italiano | terreno |
| Română | teren, sol |
| Русский | по́чва póčva |
noun unconsolidated mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the earth
| Português | solo |
|---|---|
| Français | terre, sol |
| Deutsch | Grund |
| Русский | по́чва póčva, грунт grunt |
noun country or territory
| Español | tierra, suelo |
|---|---|
| Português | solo |
| Français | terre, territoire |
| Deutsch | Grund und Boden, Territorium, Land |
| Ελληνικά | έδαφος édafos |
| Русский | земля́ zemljá |
verb to make dirty
| 한국어 | 더럽히다 deoreophida |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 汚す yogosu |
| 中文 | 弄髒 /弄脏 nòngzāng |
| Português | sujar |
| Français | salir, souiller |
| Deutsch | verschmutzen, beschmutzen, besudeln |
| Italiano | sporcare |
| Română | spurca |
| Русский | па́чкать páčkatʹ, испа́чкать ispáčkatʹ, запа́чкать zapáčkatʹ, вы́пачкать výpačkatʹ, мара́ть marátʹ, замара́ть zamarátʹ |
| العربية | اِتَّسَخَ ittasaḵa |
| עברית | לכלך likhlékh |
verb to make invalid, to ruin
| Português | arruinar, estragar |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | ungültig machen, ruinieren |
noun faeces or urine etc.
| Français | souillure |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Exkremente |
noun bag containing soiled items
| Deutsch | Fäkalienbeutel, Kotbeutel |
|---|
Talk about this word "soil." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/soil. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. soil. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/soil "soil." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/soil.Cite this
@misc{soil_2026,
title = {soil},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/soil},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
