/hyooh"meuhs/ or, often, /yooh"-/ , n.
the dark organic material in soils, produced by the decomposition of vegetable or animal matter and essential to the fertility of the earth.
[ 1790-1800; chamaí on the ground, chthón earth, Skt ksam-, Lith zeme, Serbo-Croatian zèmlja ground, earth; cf. CHAMELEON, CHTHONIAN, ZEMSTVO; see HOMO ]