sole

• enPR: sōl
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /səʊl/, [sɒʊɫ]
  • (New Zealand, General Australian) IPA^(key): /sɐʉl/, [sɒʊɫ]
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /soʊl/

  • Audio (GA)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊl
• Homophones: Seoul, soul, sowl

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.

sole (not comparable)

1. Only.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sole

   • 1905, H. G. Wells, The Empire of the Ants:

     He saw now clearly that the sole crew of the vessel was these two dead men, and though he could not see their faces, he saw by their outstretched hands, which were all of ragged flesh, that they had been subjected to some strange exceptional process of decay.

2. (law) Unmarried (especially of a woman); widowed.

   Synonym: lone

3. Unique; unsurpassed.

   The sole brilliance of this gem.

4. With independent power; unfettered.

   A sole authority.

The sole (1) of a boy's foot

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.

• soal

sole (plural soles)

1. (anatomy) The bottom or plantar surface of the foot.

   Synonym: (medical term) planta

2. (footwear) The bottom of a shoe or boot.
   • 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertations, page 147:

     The Caliga was a military Shoe, with a very thick Sole, tied above the instep with leather Thongs.

3. (obsolete) The foot itself.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 9:

     Hast wandred through the world now long a day;Yet ceasest not thy wearie soles to lead

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 8:9:

     But the doue found no rest for the sole of her foote, and she returned vnto him into the Arke: […]

4. (zoology) Solea solea, a flatfish of the family Soleidae.
   • 1952, Nikos Kazantzakis, chapter 1, in Carl Wildman, transl., Zorba the Greek, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, translation of Βίος και πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά [Víos kai politeía tou Aléxi Zormpá], →ISBN, page 3:

     The fishermen crowding in the cafés were also waiting for the end of the storm, when the fish, reassured, would rise to the surface after the bait. Soles, hog fish and skate were returning from their nocturnal expeditions. Day was now breaking.

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 end section of the chanter of a set of bagpipes.
   4. The horny substance under a horse's foot, which protects the more tender parts.

      Coordinate term: frog

   5. (military) The bottom of an embrasure.
   6. (nautical) A piece of timber attached to the lower part of the rudder, to make it even with the false keel.
      • 1842, The Nautical Magazine:

        The rudder remains to be repaired, and is unshipped for the purpose; the sole of it is entirely gone

   7. (nautical) The floor inside the cabin of a yacht or boat
6. (mining) The seat or bottom of a mine; applied to horizontal veins or lodes.

• → Hebrew: סוֹל (sol)

sole (third-person singular simple present soles, present participle soling, simple past and past participle soled)

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

• resole

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”).

sole (plural soles)

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

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.

• soal

sole (plural soles)

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.

• soal, sowl

sole (third-person singular simple present soles, present participle soling, simple past and past participle soled)

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

• EOLs, ESOL, Elos, LEOs, Leos, Lose, OELs, elos, leos, lose, selo, sloe

sole

1. plural of sool

• IPA^(key): [ˈsolɛ]

sole

1. masculine singular present transgressive of solit

sole c

1. indefinite plural of sol

• IPA^(key): [ˈsole]
• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ole
• Hyphenation: so‧le

sole

1. solely

• sola

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *sola, from Latin solea.

• IPA^(key): /sɔl/

• audio

  (file)

sole f (plural soles)

1. (zoology) sole (fish)
2. sole, the bottom of a hoof
3. (carpentry) sole, a piece of timber, a joist
4. (agriculture) a piece of land devoted to crop rotation

• solive

• “sole”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

sole

1. inflection of solar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

From Samoan sole (“man, dude, friend”).

• IPA^(key): /so.le/

sole

1. (informal) a person of (usually local) Samoan descent

   What's up sole.

• IPA^(key): /ˈso.le/
• Rhymes: -ole
• Hyphenation: só‧le

From Sole, from Latin sōlem, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥. Cognates include Greek ήλιος (ílios), Icelandic sól, Hindi सूर्य (sūrya), and Russian со́лнце (sólnce).

sole m (plural soli, diminutive (colloquial) solicèllo or (uncommon) solicìno)

1. (colloquial, astronomy) star (for extension of Sole)

   Synonym: stella

2. (heraldry) sun (a star in heraldry)
3. (alchemy) gold

   Synonym: oro

4. sunlight
   • 1807, Ugo Foscolo, Dei Sepolcri‎, Molini, Landi e comp., published 1809, page 20:

     E tu onore di pianti, Ettore, avrai ¶ […] finché il Sole ¶ Risplenderà sulle sciagure umane.

     And you, Hector, will be honored with cryings ¶ […] as long as the Sun ¶ will shine on the misfortunes of mankind.

5. (poetic) daytime, day (the interval between sunrise and sunset)
   • 1504, Jacopo Sannazaro, Arcadia:

     quattro soli e altretante lune il mio corpo né da cibo né da sonno fu riconfortato

     for four days and as many nights, my body hadn't been comforted by either food or sleep

   • 1516, Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso [Raging Roland]‎, Venice: Printed by Gabriel Giolito, published 1551, Canto XXXV, page 164:

     Poi diſſe andiamo; e nel ſeguente ſole ¶ Giunſero al fiume

     He then said "Let us go"; and in the following day ¶ they reached the river

   • 1581, Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata [Jerusalem Delivered]‎, Erasmo Viotti, Canto XIX, page 441:

     Goffredo alloggia ne la Terra: e vuole ¶ Rinouar poi l'aſſalto al nouo Sole

     Within the land Godfrey would lodge that night, ¶ and with the day renew the assault and fight.

   • 1825, Vincenzo Monti, transl., Iliade [Iliad]‎, Milan: Giovanni Resnati e Gius. Bernardoni di Gio, translation of Ἰλιάς (Iliás) by Homer, published 1840, Book XIX, page 424:

     Intero un sole al lagrimar si doni; ¶ Poi con coraggio, chi morì s'intombi

     Let an entire day be dedicated to the mourning; ¶ then with bravery, let us bury those who died

6. (poetic) year
   • 1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno [The Divine Comedy: Hell], 12th edition (paperback), Le Monnier, published 1994, Canto VI, page 94, lines 67–69:

     Poi appresso convien che questa caggia ¶ infra tre soli, e che l'altra sormonti ¶ con la forza di tal che testé piaggia.

     Then afterwards behoves it this one fall ¶ within three suns, and rise again the other ¶ by force of him who now is on the coast.

7. (poetic, in the plural) eyes
   • 1516, Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso [Raging Roland]‎, Venice: Printed by Gabriel Giolito, published 1551, Canto VII, page 26:

     Sotto duo negri e ſottilisſimi archi ¶ Son duo negri occhi, anzi duo chiari Soli

     Below two thin, black eyebrows ¶ are two black eyes; nay, two bright suns

• sole on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it
• sole in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• sole in Collins Italian-English Dictionary

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

sole

1. feminine plural of solo

sole f

1. plural of sola

• leso

See sōl.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsoː.le/, [ˈs̠oːɫ̪ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈso.le/, [ˈsɔːle]

sōle

1. ablative singular of sōl

See sōlus.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsoː.le/, [ˈs̠oːɫ̪ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈso.le/, [ˈsɔːle]

sōle

1. vocative masculine singular of sōlus

Inherited from Latin sōlem.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsolə/

sole m

1. Sun

   Steva chiuvenno, po' è asciuto 'o sole. ― It was raining, then the sun came out.

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 360: “si leva il sole” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it

From Vulgar Latin *sola, from Latin solea.

sole f (plural soles)

1. sole (fish)

Probably from the noun sol

sole (imperative sol, present tense soler, passive -, simple past sola or solet or solte, past participle sola or solet or solt, present participle solende)

1. (reflexive, sole seg) to sunbathe, sun oneself, bask (also figurative)

• “sole” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /skuːlə/

From Old Norse sóli m, from Latin solum (“bottom, ground”).

sole m (definite singular solen, indefinite plural solar, definite plural solane)

1. (anatomy) a sole (bottom or plantar surface of the foot)
2. (footwear) a sole (bottom of a shoe or boot)

sole (present tense solar, past tense sola, past participle sola, passive infinitive solast, present participle solande, imperative sole/sol)

1. to apply a sole to footwear

• sola (a-infinitive)

• soling f

• såle (Bokmål)

From the noun sol f (“sun”).

• sola (a-infinitive)

sole (present tense solar, past tense sola, past participle sola, passive infinitive solast, present participle solande, imperative sole/sol)

1. (reflexive) to sunbathe
2. (reflexive, figurative) to bask
3. (transitive) to expose to the sun

• soling f

• “sole” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• lose, Sola, sloe

• solu

Borrowed from Latin solea, from solum (“bottom, base”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swol-.

sole f

1. sole
2. shoe, sandal

• Middle English: sole, soole
  • English: sole
  • Scots: sole

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “sole”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• John R. Clark Hall (1916) “sole”, in A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, New York: Macmillan

sole f

1. oblique/nominative feminine singular of sol

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɔ.lɛ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔlɛ
• Syllabification: so‧le
• Homophone: solę

sole

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of sól

sole

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of sola

sole

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of sol

sole

1. inflection of solar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

sole (Cyrillic spelling соле)

1. third-person plural present of soliti