# soy

> English word · Noun · IPA /sɔɪ/ · frequency rank #12,504

## Definitions
1. A common East Asian liquid sauce, made by subjecting boiled beans to long fermentation and then long digestion in salt and water.
2. Soybeans, or the protein derived from them.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Chinese 醬油 /酱油 (jiàngyóu)obor.
Japanese 醤油
Japanese そやbor.
Dutch sojabor.
English soy
1670s; borrowed from Dutch soja, from the Satsuma pronunciation of Japanese 醤油 (soi), variant of the standard Japanese 醤油 (shōyu). Doublet of shoyu, orthographic borrowing from Middle Chinese 醬油 (tsjàng-yuw), from 醬 (tsjangᴴ, “bean paste”) + 油 (“oil”).

## Easily confused with
- **SS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-ss)
- **SP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sp)
- **su** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-su)
- **SW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sw)
- **SV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sv)
- **Sy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sy)
- **sun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sun)
- **sub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sub)
- **sum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sum)
- **spy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-spy)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sue)
- **spa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-spa)
- **SUV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-suv)
- **sup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sup)
- **STD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-std)
- **SQL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sql)
- **STA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sta)
- **STR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-str)
- **SPD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-spd)
- **STS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soy-vs-sts)

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