Humuses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The dark organic material in soil produced by the decomposition of plant and animal matter
2. The nutrient-rich component that enhances soil fertility and structure
3. A vital part of soil composition that supports plant growth through its nutrients and moisture retention

Etymology: "Humuses" is the plural of "humus," and the plural is the less common of the two forms. The noun "humus" was borrowed directly from Latin, where "humus" meant "ground" or "earth," the same soil that the Latin word gave English words like "exhume" and "inhume," both of which mean to dig something out of or put it into the earth. The source word, however, is less straightforward. Some sources treat "humus" as borrowed from Turkish or Arabic, with an Arabic origin for "ḥummuṣ," a word meaning chickpea, which is also the basis of the dip hummus. The two words share a spelling but not a meaning, so the link between the soil and the chickpea is a coincidence of spelling rather than a shared root. Where the Latin and the Arabic-Turkish accounts meet in English is in the two distinct senses of the same spelling.

Synonyms: organic soils, earthy material

Antonyms: mineral soils