一個國家的土地、你出生的地方
從腳下這層土放大到整片國土：站在哪一國的土上，就受哪一國的規矩和情感牽動，所以「土」也就代表了那個國家或那個家鄉。
on ... soil · noun · B2
Used in the phrase 'on ... soil' to mean the land of a particular country.
領土 / 國土
核心畫面
Picture the dark, layer you turn over with a in a garden — the top few inches of ground where roots take hold and plants find their food. Almost everything else the word does grows out of that layer: the land of a country, the place that raised you, the conditions that let something take root.
可以想成花園裡用鏟子翻開的那一層黑黑鬆鬆的泥——地表最上面幾吋，根抓得住、植物在裡面找到養分的地方。soil 其他的…更多收起
可以想成花園裡用鏟子翻開的那一層黑黑鬆鬆的泥——地表最上面幾吋，根抓得住、植物在裡面找到養分的地方。soil 其他的用法幾乎都像從那一層長出來：一個國家的土地、把你養大的地方、讓某件事生根的環境。From the word’s history
The noun goes back through Anglo-French soil 'piece of ground, place' to Latin solum, the ground itself. That is why soil keeps pointing at land you stand on, not merely at dirt as a substance. The verb 'to soil' arrived by a different road — Old French soillier 'to splatter with mud, to make dirty'.
名詞的 soil 經由古法語 soil（一塊地、一個地方）回到拉丁文 solum「地面」，所以這個字一直帶著「腳下這塊地」的味道，不只是「泥巴」這種東西。動詞的 soil（弄髒）走的是另一條路，來自古法語 soillier「濺上泥巴、弄髒」——所以那一族另外列在下面。
Online Etymology Dictionary — etymonline.com/word/soil
From the picture
讓某件事長起來的環境
種子落在什麼土裡，決定它長不長得起來；英文把這個道理整個借去講事情：環境對了，一件事就自己會長。
breeding ground · noun · B2
A place or situation where something is able to grow or develop.
溫床 / 沃土
弄髒（動詞）
這一族不是從「土壤」比喻出來的。動詞另有來源，畫面是泥巴濺上乾淨的東西；後來兩個字寫法一樣，其實是不相干的兩個字。
make dirty · verb · B2
To leave dirt on something clean, most often waste from a person's body.
弄髒 / 弄污
Also in this word
earth or ground · noun · B2
The top layer of the ground, made of earth, where plants grow.
土壤 / 泥土
farming life · noun · B2
Farming as a job or way of life; used as 'the soil'.
農耕生活 / 土地
原始詞典資料18 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
soilnoun詞源 1/sɔɪl/
- 1
A mixture of mineral particles and organic material, used to support plant growth.
- We bought a bag of soil for the houseplants.
- 2
The unconsolidated mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants.
- 3
The unconsolidated mineral or organic matter on the surface of the earth that has been subjected to and shows effects of genetic and environmental factors of: climate (including water and temperature effects), and macro- and microorganisms, conditioned by relief, acting on parent material over a period of time. A product-soil differs from the material from which it is derived in many physical, chemical, biological, and morphological properties and characteristics.
- 4
Country or territory.
- Except during the season in town, she spends her year in golfing, either at St Magnus or Pau, for, like all good Americans, she has long since abjured her native soil.
- Pro-democracy demonstrations in the Thai capital saw Germany's embassy become the focus Monday as the throngs of protesters gathered in front of the mission asked Berlin to investigate whether King Maha Vajiralongkorn is inappropriately conducting state business on German soil.
- 5
That which soils or pollutes; a stain.
- And ſince not only a dead Fathers fame, / But more a Ladies honour muſt be touch’d, / Which nice as Ermines will not bear a Soil ; / Let all retire ; that you alone may hear / What ev’n in whiſpers I won’d tell your ear.
- Precleaning treatments in combination with warewashing were evaluated for removing tahini soils.
- 6
A marshy or miry place to which a hunted boar resorts for refuge; hence, a wet place, stream, or tract of water, sought for by other game, as deer.
- As Deere being ſtrucke flie thorow many ſoiles, / Yet ſtill the ſhaft ſitcks faſt, ſo ;
- 7
Dung; compost; manure.
- night soil
- HAving given you an Account of the way of ordering of Meadows, Paſtures and Arable Land, with ſeveral Sorts of Improvement of them ; I ſhall in the next place proceed to give an Account of the ſeveral ways uſed to improve Land by Manure, Dung, and other Sort of Soils.
- 8
cookingfoodlifestyleA food preparation with the texture and often color of soil.
soilverb詞源 2/sɔɪl/
- 1
To make dirty.
- […]Bad Fruit of Knowledge, if this be to know, / Which leaves us naked thus, of Honour void, / Of innocence, of Faith, of Puritie, / Our wonted Ornaments now ſoild and ſtaind, / And in our Faces evident the ſignes / Of foul concupiſcence ; whence eveil ſtore ; / Even ſhame, the laſt of evils ; of the firſt / Be ſure then.
- 2
To become dirty or soiled.
- Light colours soil sooner than dark ones.
- 3
To stain or mar, as with infamy or disgrace; to tarnish; to sully.
- […]They clip vs drunkards, and with Swiniſh phraſe / Soyle our addition, and indeede it takes / From our atchieuements, though perform’d at height / The pith and marrow of our attribute[…]
- 4
To dirty one's clothing by accidentally defecating while clothed.
- The child was so scared she soiled herself.
- 5
To make invalid, to ruin.
- 6
To enrich with soil or muck; to manure.
- For to be kind to the former is traffic ; and in these times men present, just as they soil their ground, not that they love the dirt, but that they expect a crop : and for the latter, the politician well approves of the Indian’s religion, in worshiping the devil, that he may do him no hurt ; how much soever he hates him, and is hated by him.
soilnoun詞源 2/sɔɪl/
- 1
Faeces or urine etc. when found on clothes.
- 2
medicinesciencesA bag containing soiled items.
soilnoun詞源 3/sɔɪl/
- 1
A wet or marshy place in which a boar or other such game seeks refuge when hunted.
soilverb詞源 4/sɔɪl/
- 1
To feed, as cattle or horses, in the barn or an enclosure, with fresh grass or green food cut for them, instead of sending them out to pasture; hence (due to such food having the effect of purging them) to purge by feeding on green food.
- to soil a horse
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。