What does "soil" mean?
A mixture of mineral particles and organic material, used to support plant growth.
Soil
/sɔɪl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A mixture of mineral particles and organic material, used to support plant growth.
- Grammar: soil is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: dirt, earth, filth, grime.
- Useful contrasts: detersive, industrial cleaner, ablution.
- Usage evidence: The air is soft, the soil moist.
How to use "soil"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "soil" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "soil" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "soil" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "soil" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "soil" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "dirt" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "soil", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A mixture of mineral particles and organic material, used to support plant growth. uncountable
"We bought a bag of soil for the houseplants."
- 2 Faeces or urine etc. when found on clothes. euphemistic, uncountable
- 3 A wet or marshy place in which a boar or other such game seeks refuge when hunted.
- 4 the geographical area under the jurisdiction of a sovereign state wordnet
- 5 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
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 A bag containing soiled items. countable
- 7 material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use) wordnet
- 8 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
- 9 anything regarded as making something unclean wordnet
- 10 Country or territory. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 11 the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock wordnet
- 12 That which soils or pollutes; a stain. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 13 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
"As Deere being ſtrucke flie thorow many ſoiles, / Yet ſtill the ſhaft ſitcks faſt, ſo ;"
- 14 Dung; compost; manure. countable, uncountable
"night soil"
Verb
- 1 To make dirty. transitive
"[…]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 the firſt / Be ſure then."
- 2 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"
- 3 make soiled, filthy, or dirty wordnet
- 4 To become dirty or soiled. intransitive
"Light colours soil sooner than dark ones."
- 5 To stain or mar, as with infamy or disgrace; to tarnish; to sully. figuratively, transitive
"[…]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[…]"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To dirty one's clothing by accidentally defecating while clothed. reflexive
"The child was so scared she soiled herself."
- 7 To make invalid, to ruin.
- 8 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 much soever he hates him, and is hated by him."
Example
"The air is soft, the soil moist."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "soil"?
Common synonyms include: dirt, earth, filth, grime, ground, land.
How do you use "soil" in a sentence?
The air is soft, the soil moist.
How do you pronounce "soil"?
Pronounced /sɔɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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).
Etymology 2
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.
Etymology 3
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”).
Etymology 4
From Old French saoler, saouler (“to satiate”).