Standard Lemma guide

subsoil

noun · verb · 3 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈsʌbsɔɪl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S AH1 B S OY2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The layer of earth that is below the topsoil.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To turn up the subsoil of.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the layer of soil between the topsoil and bedrock

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: undersoil

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: soil, dirt

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Italic *supo Latin sub Latin sub-der. English sub- English soil English subsoil From sub- + soil.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: subsòl — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Chinese Mandarin: 底土 — layer of earth below topsoil
  • French: sous-sol — layer of earth below topsoil
  • German: Unterboden — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Ingrian: pintamaanalus — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Irish: gaíon — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Irish: fo-ithir — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Italian: sottosuolo — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Khmer: ដីស្រទាប់ក្រោម (dəysrɑɑtŏəpkraom) — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Manx: fo-ooir — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Manx: ooir — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Polish: podglebie — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Romansh: sutterren — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Romansh: terren sut — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Russian: матери́к (materík) — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Russian: не́дра (nédra) — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Scottish Gaelic: fo-ùir — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Spanish: subsuelo — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Swedish: alv — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Tagalog: kubsulip — layer of earth below topsoil
  • Welsh: isbridd — layer of earth below topsoil