loam

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   fertile soil containing a balanced mixture of sand, silt, and clay, often with organic matter

   The vegetables grow well in the garden's dark, crumbly loam.

2. 2
   noun

   a mixture of clay, sand, and other materials used to make molds for large castings

   The foundry packed loam around the pattern before pouring the metal.

3. 3
   verb

   to cover, fill, or seal something with loam

   Workers loamed the joints before the furnace was fired.

From Middle English lome, from Old English lam ("clay, mud, earth"), from a Germanic source also represented by Dutch leem and German Lehm. The older idea was earth used for smearing or binding; the modern soil sense emphasizes its mixture of particle sizes.

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