loam

Pronunciation: /loʊm/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a rich soil consisting of a mixture of sand and clay and decaying organic materials

Etymology

From Middle English lome, lame, lam, from Old English lām (“clay, mud, mire, earth”), from Proto-West Germanic *laim, from Proto-Germanic *laimaz, *laimô (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Leem (“loam”), West Frisian liem (“loam”), Dutch leem (“loam”), German Lehm (“loam”). Related also to lime.

In classic literature

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
soil
Narrower (hyponyms)
regur, chernozemic soil

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