Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from soil by restricting the former term specifically to displaced soil.
The evolution of soils and their properties is called soil formation, and according to pedologists, five fundamental soil formation processes influence soil properties.
Plants grow in and from soils, and plants—directly or indirectly—feed almost all life on Earth. Soil-dwellers such as bacteria and fungi recycle once-living organisms into nutrients and soil organic matter (humus)—vital components of all soils. Without soils, life would not exist as we know it.