n. A very black topsoil, rich in humus, typical of cool to temperate semiarid regions such as the grasslands of Ukraine and southern Russia. [Russian chernozëm : chërnyĭ, black + Old Russian zemĭ, earth; see dhghem- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] cher′no·zemic adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.