Soil: noun (2): 1: firm land: earth; 2a: the upper layer of earth that may be dug or plowed and in which plants grow; 2b: the superficial unconsolidated and usually weathered part of the mantle of a planet and especially of the earth; 3: country, land – our native soil; 4: the agricultural life or calling; 5: a medium in which something takes hold and develops.