Standard Lemma guide

chernozem

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈt͡ʃɜː(ɹ)nəˌzɛm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A fertile black soil containing a very high percentage of humus (3% to 15%) and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: soil science

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: black earth, black soil

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian чернозём (černozjóm, “black soil”). The letter ё (jo) is usually written as е (je) in Russian, more accurately transliterated as "chernozyom"; compare чернозе́мье (černozémʹje), where ё (jo) is changed to е (je).

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Southern Altai: кара тобрак (kara tobrak) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Belarusian: чарназём (čarnazjóm) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黑土 (hēitǔ) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黑鈣土 /黑钙土 (hēigàitǔ) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Czech: černozem — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Esperanto: ĉernozemo — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Esperanto: ĉernozio — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Finnish: tšernozem — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Finnish: mustamulta — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Finnish: mustamultamaannos — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • French: tchernoziom — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • French: tchernozème — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • German: Schwarzerde — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • German: Tschernosem — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Ingrian: mussanmaa — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Italian: černozëm — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Japanese: 黒土 (kokudo) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Japanese: チェルノゼム (cherunozemu) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Japanese: チェルノジョーム (cherunojōmu) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Korean: 흑토 (heukto) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Korean: 체르노젬 (chereunojem) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Korean: 체르노죰 (chereunojom) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Kyrgyz: кара топурак (kara topurak) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Polish: czarnoziem — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Portuguese: chernozem — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Romanian: cernoziom — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Russian: чернозём (černozjóm) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Slovene: černozem — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Spanish: chernozem — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Swedish: svartjord — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Tamil: கரிசல் (karical) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Tamil: கரிசல்மண் (karicalmaṇ) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Ukrainian: чорно́зем (čornózem) — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Vietnamese: đất đen — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Vietnamese: hắc thổ — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus
  • Vietnamese: secnôziom — black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus