Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

soil

/sɔɪl/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.42 in modern English

Syllables
soil
IPA
/sɔɪl/
4
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A mixture of mineral particles and organic material, used to support plant growth.

Uncountable

noun

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.

Uncountable

noun

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.

Uncountable

noun

Country or territory.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

That which soils or pollutes; a stain.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

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.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Dung; compost; manure.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A food preparation with the texture and often color of soil.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

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).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Geology.

Inflected Forms

soils (plural) soyl (alternative, obsolete) soils (present, singular) soiling (participle, present) soiled (participle, past) soiled (past)

Derived Forms

antisoil assoil besoil desoil gleysoil hydrosoil neosoil nonsoil paleosoil resoil soilable soilborne

Phrases

ABC soil back-to-the-soil black cotton soil blood and soil desert soil fill soil Free-Soilism garden soil

Frequently Paired Words

solum alluvium

Synonyms

besmirch dirty smirch assoil beclart bedaub bedirty imbrue (especially with blood) bedizen befile befilth befoul

Rhymes With

oil boil spoil foil doyle coil boyle recoil toil coyle hoyle foyle

Questions

How do you pronounce soil?
The recorded pronunciation is /sɔɪl/.
What does soil mean?
A mixture of mineral particles and organic material, used to support plant growth.
Where does soil come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce soil

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “soil”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/sɔɪl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “soil”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “soil” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.