sole
UK /səʊl/ · US /soʊl/ adjective, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms soles soling soled soal sowl
- adjective Only.
- adjective (law) Unmarried (especially of a woman); widowed.
- adjective Unique; unsurpassed. “The sole brilliance of this gem.”
- adjective With independent power; unfettered. “A sole authority.”
- noun (anatomy) The bottom or plantar surface of the foot.
- noun (footwear) The bottom of a shoe or boot.
- noun (obsolete) The foot itself.
- noun (zoology) Solea solea, a flatfish of the family Soleidae; a true sole.
- noun (by extension) A flatfish resembling those of the family Soleidae.
- noun The bottom of the body of a plough; the slade.
- noun The bottom of a furrow.
- noun The end section of the chanter of a set of bagpipes.
- verb (transitive) To put a sole on a shoe or a boot.
- noun (dialectal or obsolete) A wooden band or yoke put around the neck of an ox or cow in the stall.
- noun (dialectal, Northern England) A pond or pool; a dirty pond of standing water.
- verb (transitive, UK dialectal) To pull by the ears; to pull about; haul; lug.
- proper noun A sea area, corresponding to the Sole Bank, to the north of FitzRoy
Synonyms
lone individual first and last one one and only only single singular solitary unitary planta fillet of sole resole exclusive lonesome
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English sole, soule, from Old French sol, soul (“alone”), from Latin sōlus (“alone, single, solitary, lonely”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun). Perhaps related to Old Latin sollus (“whole, complete”), from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“safe, healthy”). More at save.
From Middle English sole, soole, from Old English sole, solu. Reinforced by Anglo-Norman sole, Old French sole, from Vulgar Latin *sola (“bottom of the shoe”, also “flatfish”), 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.
Compare typologically Russian по́чва (póčva) akin to подо́шва (podóšva).
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 cognates include Albanian dell (“sinew, vein”).
From Middle English sol, from Old English sol (“mire, miry place”), from Proto-Germanic *sulą (“mire, wallow, mud”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian soal (“ditch”), Dutch sol (“water and mud filled pit”), German Suhle (“mire, wallow”), Norwegian saula, søyla (“mud puddle”). More at soil.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The bottom of the foot; hence, also, rarely, the foot itself.
- noun The bottom of a shoe or boot, or the piece of leather which constitutes the bottom.
- verb To furnish with a sole; as, to sole a shoe.
- adjective Being or acting without another; single; individual; only. "The sole son of my queen." Shak.
Etymology [F. sole, L. solea; -- so named from its flat shape. See Sole of the foot.]
Etymology [AS. sole, fr. L. soolea (or rather an assumed L. sola), akin to solumround, soil, sole of the foot. Cf. Exile, Saloon, Soil earth, Sole the fish.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sole”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details