Added 10 October 2026
soya
/ˈsɔɪ.ə/ noun
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about soya at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Erect bushy hairy annual herb having trifoliate leaves and purple to pink flowers; extensively cultivated for food and forage and soil improvement but especially for its nutritious oil-rich seeds; native to Asia.
- The most highly proteinaceous vegetable known; the fruit of the soybean plant is used in a variety of foods and as fodder (especially as a replacement for animal protein).
Origin
Borrowed from Dutch soja; from the Satsuma dialectal Japanese そや (soya), which is the topicalized form of 醤油 (そい, soi) (cognate to standard Japanese 醤油 (しょうゆ, shōyu)), from Late Middle Japanese 醤油 (しやうゆ, shiyauyu), orthographic borrowing from Middle Chinese 醬油 (tsjàng-yuw), from 醬 (tsjangᴴ, “bean paste”) + 油 (“oil”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)