soya milk

2.8

A drink made from soybeans used instead of cow's milk

noun
/ˈsoʊjə mɪlk/

: leche de soya

Many people choose soya milk as a lactose-free alternative to cow's milk.

Examples

Dairy foods provide calcium (or calcium-fortified non-dairy foods such as soya milk): aim for around three portions per day.

Academic text (2012)
Include some soya protein in the diet daily; 15g of soya protein or 2 glasses of soya milk alternative daily have been proven to lower cholesterol levels.

Academic text (2012)
She prefers soya milk in her coffee instead of regular dairy milk.
For a vegan smoothie, add some soya milk to blend with the fruits.

Synonyms

soy milk

vssoya milk

11 1.9

Milk made from soybeans used instead of regular milk

is the same concept expressed with an alternate common spelling

soymilk

vssoya milk

3 3.0

A drink made from soybeans used instead of milk

has identical meaning but uses a different form of the same name

soybean milk

vssoya milk

2.9

A white plant drink made from ground beans and water used instead of cow milk

is the same substitute but highlights production for foods like tofu

How Milky

cows' milk

4 1.0

soya milk

2.8

Surface Forms

soya milk singular

soya milks plural

soy milks plural

soy milk singular

Morphology

soya + milk

The meaning 'a plant-based milk made from soybeans' is directly compositional from 'soya' (soy-based) + 'milk' (nutritive liquid); the noun+noun pattern clearly denotes the type of milk. This is a common, transparent compound cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Soya milk comes from the simple idea of making a white, milky drink from soya beans. People soak and crush the beans and press out a liquid that looks like 'milk', so the name now means a plant-based drink used 'instead of dairy milk'.