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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

loam.

A type of soil; an earthy mixture of sand, silt and clay, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ləʊm/UK/luːm/UK, dialectal/loʊm/US/lum/US, New-England, dialectal

  1. A type of soil; an earthy mixture of sand, silt and clay, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.

    countable · uncountable

  2. A mixture of sand, clay, and other materials, used in making moulds for large castings, often without a pattern.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English lom, lome, 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.

verb/ləʊm/UK/luːm/UK, dialectal/loʊm/US/lum/US, New-England, dialectal

  1. To cover, smear, or fill with loam.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English lom, lome, 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.

adj/ləʊm/UK/luːm/UK, dialectal/loʊm/US/lum/US, New-England, dialectal

  1. Made of loam; consisting of loam.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English lom, lome, 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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.