Sole

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /səʊl/
• US enPR: sōl, IPA: /soÊŠl/
• Rhymes: -əʊl
• Homophones: soul, Seoul

From Middle English sole, soole, from Old English sāl ("a rope, cord, line, bond, rein, door-hinge, necklace, collar"), from Proto-Germanic *sailą, *sailaz ("rope, cable"), *sailō ("noose, rein, bondage"), from Proto-Indo-European *sey- ("to tie to, tie together"). Cognate with Scots sale, saile ("halter, collar"), Dutch zeel ("rope, cord, strap"), German Seil ("rope, cable, wire"), Icelandic seil ("a string, line"). Non-Germanic cognate include Albanian dell ("sinew, vein").

Full definition of sole

Noun

1. (dialectal or obsolete) A wooden band or yoke put around the neck of an ox or cow in the stall.

From Middle English, from Old English sol ("mire, miry place"), from Proto-Germanic *sulą ("mire, wallow, mud"), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- ("thick liquid"). Cognate with Eastern Frisian soal ("ditch"), Dutch sol ("water and mud filled pit"), German Suhle ("mire, wallow"), Norwegian saula, søyla ("mud puddle"). More at soil.

Alternative forms

• soal

Noun

1. (dialectal, Northern England) A pond or pool; a dirty pond of standing water.

From earlier sowle ("to pull by the ear"). Origin unknown. Perhaps from sow("female pig") + -le, as in the phrase "take a sow by the wrong ear", or from Middle English sole ("rope"). See above.

Alternative forms

• soal, sowl

Verb

1. (transitive, UK dialectal) To pull by the ears; to pull about; haul; lug.

From Middle English sole, soule, from Old French sol, soul ("alone"), from Latin sōlus ("alone, single, solitary, lonely"), of unknown origin. Perhaps related to Old Latin sollus ("whole, complete"), from Proto-Indo-European *solw-, *salw-, *slōw- ("safe, healthy"). More at save.

Adjective

1. only
2. (legal) unmarried (especially of a woman); widowed.

From Middle English sole, soole, from Old English sole, solu ("shoe, sandal, sole"), from Proto-Germanic *sulô, *suljō ("sandal, shoe, sole"), from Latin solea ("sandal, bottom of the shoe"), from Proto-Indo-European *swol- ("sole"). Cognate with Dutch zool ("sole, tread"), German Sohle ("sole, insole, bottom, floor"), Danish sål ("sole"), Icelandic sóli ("sole, outsole"), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌻𐌾𐌰 (sulja, "sandal"). Related to Latin solum ("bottom, ground, soil"). More at soil.

Noun

1. The bottom or plantar surface of the foot.
2. The bottom of a shoe or boot.
• ArbuthnotThe caliga was a military shoe, with a very thick sole, tied above the instep.
3. (obsolete) The foot itself.
• Bible, Genesis viii. 9The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot.
• SpenserHast wandered through the world now long a day,
  Yet ceasest not thy weary soles to lead.
4. Solea solea, a flatfish of the family Soleidae.
5. The bottom or lower part of anything, or that on which anything rests in standing.
1. The bottom of the body of a plough; the slade.
2. The bottom of a furrow.
3. The horny substance under a horse's foot, which protects the more tender parts.
4. (military) The bottom of an embrasure.
5. (nautical) A piece of timber attached to the lower part of the rudder, to make it even with the false keel.
6. (mining) The seat or bottom of a mine; applied to horizontal veins or lodes.

Synonyms

• (bottom of the foot): planta (medical term)

Derived terms

• insole
• midsole
• outsole

Verb

1. (transitive) to put a sole on (a shoe or boot)

Derived terms

• resole

Anagrams

• ESOL
• Leos
• lose
• sloe