humic acid
- noun
- /ˈhjuːmɪk ˈæsɪd/
- Specialized
:
ácido húmico
- Studies indicate that humic acid is vital in the breakdown of organic materials, enhancing soil fertility.
Examples
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To boost crop yields, farmers often incorporate humic acid into their soil management practices.
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But humic acid contributes only about 8 percent of the carbon.
Academic text (2002) -
They found that glomalin's structure differs from that of humic acid or any other organic matter component and has unique structural units.
Academic text (2002) -
" We've learned that the sodium hydroxide used to separate out humic acid in soil misses most of the glomalin.
Academic text (2002) -
The soil's rich structure is largely due to the presence of humic acid that retains moisture and nutrients.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'humic' specifies that the acid is related to humus/soil organic matter, and 'acid' gives the chemical nature, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it is an acidic organic soil compound. This follows a common noun-modifier + noun pattern (e.g., Spanish/French equivalents 'ácido húmico'/'acide humique'), making the sense transparent to learners who know the parts.
Etymology
Humic acid comes from humic, from the word 'humus', the dark, decayed plant material in 'soil'. People called the water-soluble parts acid because they act a little like acids in water, so 'humic acid' now means the dark, water-soluble organic part of decayed plants in soil.
