# loam

> English word · Noun · IPA /ləʊm/ · frequency rank #46,031

## Definitions
1. A type of soil; an earthy mixture of sand, silt and clay, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.
2. A mixture of sand, clay, and other materials, used in making moulds for large castings, often without a pattern.

## Etymology
From Middle English lome, lame, lam, from Old English lām (“clay, mud, mire, earth”), from Proto-West Germanic *laim, from Proto-Germanic *laimaz, *laimô (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Leem (“loam”), West Frisian liem (“loam”), Dutch leem (“loam”), German Lehm (“loam”). Related also to lime.

## Easily confused with
- **lot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lot)
- **low** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-low)
- **lol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lol)
- **los** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-los)
- **log** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-log)
- **Lou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lou)
- **loo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-loo)
- **LOC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-loc)
- **Lon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lon)
- **lob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lob)
- **lor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lor)
- **lop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lop)
- **Lua** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lua)
- **Lod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lod)
- **lox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lox)
- **loy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-loy)
- **Loh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-loh)
- **lum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-lum)
- **love** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-love)
- **long** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loam-vs-long)

## Common misspellings (4)
`laom`, `lloam`, `loamm`, `olam`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/loam