Abstract Knowledge of a little number of specific terms is necessary to investigate and
describe humipedons. This “new vocabulary” allows individuating and circumscribing
particular diagnostic horizons, which are the fundamental bricks of the humipedon. Few
“components” defined by specific terms characterize a specific “humipedon horizon”; few
“humipedon horizons” compose a given “humus form” and some similar “humus forms” are
grouped in a functional “humus system”. In this article, specific terms and humus horizons …