sole

English has three words spelled sole: the underside of the foot and the flatfish, both from Latin solea, and the adjective meaning only, from Latin sōlus.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /səʊl/, US /soʊl/^[3]

sole¹ bottom of the foot

Etymology

The underside of the foot is borrowed from Old French sole,^[2][4][5] from Vulgar Latin *sola,^[5][4] for Latin solea (“sandal, bottom of a shoe; sill”),^[2][5][6] from solum (“bottom, ground, soil”), of uncertain origin.^[2][5] De Vaan, quoted by Etymonline, derives solum from PIE *se/ol-o- “place, settlement”.^[5] The SOED suggests it was probably already in Old English, which has solen once in the plural.^[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The underside of the foot: about 1325.^[2][8][5]

Semantic evolution

The Century Dictionary, quoted by Etymonline, calls it technically the planta, corresponding to the palm of the hand.^[5] The bottom of a boot or shoe is from 1378–79 in Barnhart and about 1440 in the OED,^[2][8] and puns on soul are from at least 1603, as in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.^[8] A foundation or sill is from the 15th century, and the lower part or bottom of anything, such as a plough or a golf club head, from the 17th.^[4][9] The verb, to put a sole on, is from 1570 in Levins's dictionary.^[2][6]

Timeline

• c. 1325 – the underside of the foot.^[2][8]
• 1378–79 – the bottom of a shoe.^[2]
• 1570 – the verb, to sole.^[2]
• 1603 – punned on soul.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The underside of the foot.
2. The underside of a shoe or boot, often not counting the heel.
3. The bottom or lower surface of something, as of a plough or a golf club.

Verb

1. To put a new sole on a shoe or boot.

sole² one and only

Etymology

The adjective is Middle English soul, sole, borrowed from Old French soul (“only, alone”) (feminine soule; modern French seul),^[2][4][5] from Latin sōlus (“alone, only, single”),^[2][5][6] a word of unknown origin, perhaps related to sē (“oneself”) or sed (“without”).^[5][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Single, unmarried: about 1395 in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,^[2] the late 14th century in Etymonline;^[5] the SOED says especially of a woman.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The sense of one and only, as in one's sole support, is in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew, before 1398.^[2] Alone or solitary is from the 15th century,^[4] and exclusive, belonging to one person or group, as sole rights, from the 16th.^[4][10] In law a feme sole is an unmarried woman.^[10][7] The same Latin gave solitary, desolate and solo.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1395 – unmarried, in Chaucer.^[2]
• before 1398 – one and only, in Trevisa.^[2]
• 15th century – alone, solitary.^[4]
• 16th century – exclusive.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Being the only one.
2. Belonging to one person or group only; exclusive: sole rights.
3. (law) Unmarried.

Word family

• solely
• sole trader

sole³ flatfish

Etymology

The fish is borrowed from Old French sole, from Old Provençal sola,^[4][7] from Latin solea (“a kind of flatfish; sandal”) (see sole¹), so called from its resemblance to a sandal or flat shoe.^[2][5][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A European flatfish: 1252 in Barnhart, the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that the word was borrowed again for the fish because its shape recalls the sole of a foot.^[1] The name now covers various mainly tongue-shaped flatfish, such as the Dover sole and lemon sole.^[7][10]

Timeline

• 1252 – the flatfish.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An edible flatfish of the family Soleidae, such as the Dover sole, or a similar fish.

Word family

• Dover sole
• lemon sole

Related words

• soil
• solitary
• solo
• desolate
• sullen
• solitaire

References

1. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins