Etymology

chernozem

C3H4E1R1N1O1Z10E1M3

Today it means: A fertile black soil containing a very high percentage of humus (3% to 15%) and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia. Full definition →

Russian чернозём
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The story

  1. Russian · borrowed fromчернозём“black soil”
  2. English todaychernozem

Borrowed from Russian чернозём (černozjóm, “black soil”). The letter ё (jo) is usually written as е (je) in Russian, more accurately transliterated as "chernozyom"; compare чернозе́мье (černozémʹje), where ё (jo) is changed to е (je).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.