humus

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin humus (“earth, ground, soil”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} possibly by way of French humus, according to Barnhart,^[3] and Merriam-Webster gives New Latin as the intermediate stage.^[7] Etymonline and Barnhart think the Latin noun was probably drawn from the locative humī (“on the ground”).^[4][3] De Vaan reconstructs a Proto-Indo-European nominative *dhǵh-ōm,^[8] from the root that Etymonline writes *dhghem- (“earth”).^[4] Its cognates include Ancient Greek χαμαί (chamaí, “on the ground”),^[3][9] χθών (chthṓn, “earth”)^[10][11] and Lithuanian žẽmė (“earth”).^[11] In Latin it is related to humilis (“low”) and homō (“man”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vegetable mould, the dark substance left by the slow decay of organic matter in the ground: 1796, in H. Hunter's translation of Saint-Pierre's Studies,^[2] a date that Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster share.^[4][3][7]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word meant earth or ground in general, while English took it over only as a term for the organic part of soil.^[2][6][7] Attributive uses such as humus acid and humus soil are recorded from 1881, in Darwin's book on vegetable mould.^[2] Etymonline gives the adjective humous as a related form.^[4]

Timeline

• 1796 – vegetable mould, the organic part of soil.^[2][4][3][7]
• 1881 – attributive, as humus soil.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The dark brown or black organic material of soil, formed by the partial decomposition of plant and animal matter, which helps soil to hold water and improves its fertility.^{[12][7][2][6]}

Word family

• humic
• nonhumus

Related words

• human
• humble
• humiliate
• exhume
• inhume
• homage
• chameleon
• chthonian
• hummus

Usage notes

Collins warns against confusing the word with hummus.^[12]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins