noun
loam
LOHM/ləʊm/
Fertile soil containing a balanced mixture of sand, silt, clay, and organic matter.
The garden's rich loam holds moisture without becoming waterlogged.
Etymology
Old English lām referred broadly to clay, mud, or clayey earth. The word later became a technical name for fertile soil, narrowing an everyday earth-word to a particular soil type.
In context
it might be a sandy loam like mine or a clay loam or a silt loam the key is that you want a mix of these different particles
More examples
- She mixes compost into the loam before planting beans.
- The roots spread easily through the loose loam.
- A layer of loam covers the rocky ground.
Forms
loam
loamy adjective — Containing or resembling fertile, mixed soil.
Similar words
- soil
- A broader term for earth in which plants grow.
- topsoil
- The upper soil layer, which is not always loam.