sole

Etymology 1

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.

adj

1. Only.
   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. 1905, H. G. Wells, The Empire of the Ants
2. (law) Unmarried (especially of a woman); widowed.
3. Unique; unsurpassed.
   The sole brilliance of this gem.
4. With independent power; unfettered.
   A sole authority.

Etymology 2

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.

noun

1. (anatomy) The bottom or plantar surface of the foot.
2. (footwear) The bottom of a shoe or boot.
3. (obsolete) The foot itself.
4. (zoology) 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 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.
      The rudder remains to be repaired, and is unshipped for the purpose; the sole of it is entirely gone 1842, The Nautical Magazine
   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.

verb

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

Etymology 3

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”).

noun

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

Etymology 4

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.

noun

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

Etymology 5

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.

verb

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