Forms: 4–8 soyle (5 soylle), 5, 7–8 soyl (6 Sc. soyll), 5–7 soile, 6– soil. [a. AF. soil, soyl in sense 2 b (1292–1305), app. representing L. solium (whence also OF. soil, suel: see SOIL sb.2), taken in the sense of L. solum (F. sol) ground. For Sc. forms see also SULYE.]
I. 1. The earth or ground; the face or surface of the earth.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 1387. Vch a syde [of the city] vpon soyle helde seuen myle.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1252. It was semand to siȝt as all þe soyle trymblid.
1412–20. Lydg., Chron. Troy, I. 4383. Boþe tour & wal [was] with þe soil made pleyn.
a. 1547. Surrey, Æneid, II. C iv. I saw … Neptunus town clene razed from the soil.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., IV. ii. 7. The face of Terra, the soyle, the land, the earth.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., VIII. 372. The Countrey voyd of Villages, Riuers, or Cultiuage: but the soyle rich in Bestiall.
1660. Milton, Free Commw., 18. With the Prophet … to tell the verie soil it self what God hath determined of Coniah and his seed for ever.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), V. 21. In cases of copyholds, a lord may have a right under the soil of the copyholder.
a. 1838. in Murray’s N. Germ., 90. The precise spot where his foot first touched the soil.
1851. Borrow, Lavengro, III. viii. 115. I flung myself on the soil, and kissed it.
† b. The lower ground, the plain. Obs.–1
1594. Nashe, Dido, III. iii. 976. Æneas, leaue these dumpes, and lets away, Some to the mountaines, some vnto the soyle, You to the valleys.
2. A piece or stretch of ground; a place or site. Now rare or Obs.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 2078. He þat set is full sad on a soile euyn, And pight has his place on a playn ground.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, II. xiii. (1554), 51 b. A soyle she found ful delectable of sight.
1470. in Aungier, Syon Mon. (1840), 72. A soyle and a grownde of wode callid Blakeley.
1547. in Vicary’s Anat. (1888), App. III. i. 131. The Sightes or Soyles wheruppon the same ij churches Are … buyldyd.
1576. Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 205. Hauing forgotten the situation of the soyle where he was resident,… he fell into a ditche.
1647. Hexham, I. (Hunting), The ground or soile where a Deere feeds.
1797. T. Wright, Autobiog. (1864), 89. If I could purchase a soil anywhere nigh … he would give me the stones … to build the house.
† b. With poss. pron. or genitive. Obs.
1464. Rolls of Parlt., V. 529/1. CC acres of wast of oure soile within the Forest.
1467. in Eng. Gilds (1870), 371. That euery man kepe his soyle clene and his pavyment hole.
1480. Cov. Leet Bk., 459. Þe place of the seid weysshyng ys þe soyle of þe hospitall.
† c. An estate or property. Obs. rare.
1575. Churchyard, Chippes (1817), 138. They went towards Seatton,… where the lady of that soyle … presented the keyes … to the generall.
3. A land or country; a region, province or district. Now Obs. or arch.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 3161. Þe sceptoure & þe soile sesid am [I] of Persy.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron., VII. ccxxxv. (1811), 271. Ye kyng … gaue ye moytie therof to ye duke of Burgoyn, as chefe lorde of yt soyle.
1577. St. Augustine’s Man., 26. There the daysunne of righteousnesse … inlighteneth all the Citizens of the heavenly soyle.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, IV. xiv. 250. There is towardes that place a soile which they call, the Land of Emeraldes.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 242. Is this the Region, this the Soil, the Clime,… That we must change for Heav’n?
1727. Gay, Fables, I. x. 2. The man who with undaunted toils Sails unknown seas, to unknown soils.
1781. Cowper, Expost., 192. Lords of the conquered soil,… In peace possessing what they won by war.
4. a. The place of one’s nativity; one’s (native) land or country.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1724. Þe souerayne sire of my soyle þat sittis in my trone.
1553. T. Wilson, Rhet., 51. His soyle also (where he was borne) geveth him to be an evill man.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lxxviii. § 1. When hunger caused them to leaue their naturall soyle, and to seeke for sustenance in Egypt.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., I. 7. I choosed … to seclude my selfe from my soyle.
1697. Dryden, Virg., Past., X. 70. You … To shun my sight, your Native Soil forego, And climb the frozen Alps.
1748. Gray, Alliance, 87. The manners speak the idiom of their soil.
1822. Shelley, Chas. 1st, II. 211. Your Majesty has ever interposed, In lenity towards your native soil [etc.].
1838. Thirlwall, Greece, IV. 155. The outcasts whom the cruel policy … of the Athenians had at various times deprived of their native soils.
† b. One’s domicile or place of residence. Freq. in to change one’s soil. Obs.
1555. W. Watreman, Fardle Facions, I. vi. 91. Because thei cary great droues of catteill with them, they chaunge their soile often.
1577–87. Holinshed, Chron., III. 1066/2. Such as could make shift … changed their soile.
1641. Milton, Ch. Govt., Wks. 1851, III. 96. Some of our Prelates in all haste meant to change their soile.
1643. Baker, Chron., Eliz., 50. His father,… being persecuted for a Protestant, changed his Soyl.
6. In phrases: a. Lord of the soil, the owner of an estate or domain.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., IV. x. 26. Heere’s the Lord of the soile come to seize me for a stray, for entering his Fee-simple without leaue.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), I. 53. A class of people in a condition of downright servitude, belonging … to the lord of the soil.
b. Child (son, etc.) of the soil, a native of a place or country; also, one closely connected with or engaged in the cultivation of the ground.
1814. Southey, Roderick, I. 7. A yoke galled … the children of the soil.
1861. Pearson, Early & Mid. Ages Eng., i. 1. The last of the sons of the soil, whom invasion had dispossessed of their homes.
1882. C. F. Keary, Outl. Prim. Belief, 105. Some have believed themselves autochthonous, or children of the soil, in the land where history discovers them.
1891. T. Hardy, Tess, III. liii. 217. Don’t, Angel, be so anxious about a mere child of the soil!
II. 6. The ground with respect to its composition, quality, etc., or as the source of vegetation.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 1039. Þe clay þat clenges þer-by arn corsyes strong,… & suche is alle þe soyle by þat se halues. Ibid., C. 443. Þe whyle God of his grace ded growe of þat soyle Þe fayrest bynde hym [sc. Jonah] abof þat euer burne wyste.
1412–20. Lydg., Chron. Troy, I. 2606. Þe bareyn soyl to clothen and amende.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., IV. iv. 54. Most subiect is the fattest Soyle to Weedes.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, IV. vi. 219. The ground and soile of this mountaine is drie, cold and very vnpleasant.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 71. Goad him … Till the bright Share is bury’d in the Soil.
1726. Swift, Gulliver, II. vi. 108. I dwelt long upon the Fertility of our Soil, and the Temperature of our Climate.
1748. Gray, Alliance, 6. The soil, tho’ fertile, will not teem in vain.
1806. Gazetteer Scotl., 101. The soil is excellent, being composed of clay and sand.
1882. Geikie, Text-bk. Geol., II. II. vi. 154. Primarily the character of the soil is determined by that of the subsoil.
b. transf. and fig. (or in fig. context).
1575. G. W., in Gascoigne’s Wks. (1907), I. 24. Whereof if some but simple seeme, consider well the soyle. They grew not all at home, some came from forreyne fieldes.
c. 1586. C’tess Pembroke, Ps. LII. viii. Gods house the soile shall bee My rootes to nourish.
1824. Lamb, Elia, II. Blakesmoor in H——shire. These were … the wholesome soil which I was planted in.
1869. Tozer, Highl. Turkey, II. 277. This popular literature is found over the whole face of Europe. Turn the soil where you will, and a plentiful crop at once springs up.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 858. These agents … in some way make the soil [sc. the skin] unsuitable for the growth of the fungus.
7. Without article: Mould; earth.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 342/1. Moold, or soyle of erthe, solum, humus.
1530. Palsgr., 272/1. Soyle of grounde, terrover.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., III. vi. 31. It sited was in fruitfull soyle of old.
1648. Milton, Psalm lxxxi. 23. His hands from pots, and mirie soyle Deliver’d were by me.
1685. Temple, Gardens, Wks. 1720, I. 182. Of all sorts of Soil, the best is that upon a Sandy Gravel.
a. 1701. Maundrell, Journ. Jerus. (1732), 65. Many beds of excellent soil.
1774. Bryant, Mythol., II. 214. When the birds were found to return with their feet stained with soil.
1855. Delamer, Kitchen Gard., 2. Though the Flemings have, mostly, everything that can be wished for as to soil.
1880. Geikie, Phys. Geog., iv. 187. The layer of soil on which the plants grow.
8. With a and pl. A particular kind of mould or earth.
1560. Bible (Geneva), Ezek. xvii. 8. It was planted in a good soile by great waters, that it shulde … beare frute.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., I. i. 64. The variation of each soyle, Betwixt that Holmeden, and this Seat of ours.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, II. viii. 99. The rest is a sandie and barren soile.
1626. B. Jonson, Staple of N., II. iv. (1905), 46. But this is a hungry soile, And must be helpt.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., II. 154. Nor ev’ry plant on ev’ry soil will grow.
1726. Leoni, Alberti’s Archit., II. 109/1. There were as many different sorts of wines, as there were of different soyls wherein the vineyards were planted.
1767. A. Young, Farmer’s Lett. to People, 140. On three different soils (very light—rich—and very heavy).
1813. Sir H. Davy, Agric. Chem., i. (1814), 12. Soils in all cases consist of a mixture of finely divided earthy matters.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., I. 171/1. Sandy and peaty soils and marls are in general deficient in this alkali.
fig. 1631. R. Bolton, Comf. Affl. Consc., iv. (1635), 196. There is but one good soile, upon which the seed of the Word falls prosperously.
1781. Cowper, Truth, 363. No soil like poverty for growth divine.
1794. Paley, Evid. (1825), II. 352. Infidelity is the hardest soil which the propagators of a new religion can have to work upon.
1870. Max Müller, Sci. Relig. (1873), 39. In no religion was there a soil so well prepared for the cultivation of Comparative Theology as in our own.
9. attrib. and Comb., as soil-breaker, -pulverizer; soil-draining, -supporting, etc.
1839. J. Buel, Farmer’s Companion, 101. What we term soil-draining, is most frequently resorted to in swamps and low lands.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2238/2. Soil-pulverizer.… A machine for breaking clods.
1876. Nature, 13 Jan., 215/2. Disintegrated rocks form soil-supporting vegetation.
1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 25 June, 3/1. The same may be said of harrows and soil-breakers.
10. Special combs.: soil-bound a., (a) clagged, clodded (cf. sole-bound s.v. SOLE sb.1 9 b); (b) bound or attached to the soil; soil-cap Geol., a layer of soil and detritus covering strata or bedrock; soil-creep, the slow creeping or sliding movement of surface-soil down a slope; soil-map U.S., a map showing the distribution of various kinds of soil; soil-pipe (see quot.).
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 333–4. Crust Clung or *Soil Bound, is an hard sticking together of the Earth, that nothing will grow on it.
1814. Byron, Lara, II. viii. That morning he had freed the soil-bound slaves.
c. 1875. Waugh, Heather, II. 151. As I get owder, I get more soil-bund.
1882. Geikie, Text-bk. Geol., IV. III. 511. Mere gravitation aided by the downward pressure of sliding detritus or *‘soil-cap’ suffices to bend over the edges of fissile strata.
1897. Archaeol. Jrnl., Dec., 374. The *soil-creep is slow and the surface soils are of great antiquity.
1899. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agric., 345. In 1892 the first *soil map, based upon the texture and physical properties of soils, was issued.
a. 1864. Gesner, Practical Treatise on Coal, Petrol., etc. (1865), 27. The driving of the *soil-pipe … is the first thing done. This pipe is four inches in diameter,… and driven by a heavy block of wood, as in pile driving.
