sole

Adjective

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.

Alternative forms

• soal

Noun

sole (plural soles)

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

   Synonym: (medical term) planta

4. (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.

6. (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: […]

8. (zoology) Solea solea, a flatfish of the family Soleidae; a true sole.
   • 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.

10. (by extension) A flatfish resembling those of the family Soleidae.
11. 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.
    5. The horny substance under a horse's foot, which protects the more tender parts.

       Coordinate term: frog

    6. (military) The bottom of an embrasure.
    7. (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

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

Verb

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 a boot.

Noun

sole (plural soles)

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

Alternative forms

• soal

Noun

sole (plural soles)

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

Alternative forms

• soal, sowl

Verb

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.

Related terms

• sola

Derived terms

• solive

Noun

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

See also

Further reading

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

Adjective

sole

1. feminine plural of solo

Noun

sole f

1. plural of sola

Pronunciation

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

Noun

sōle

1. ablative singular of sōl

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

sōle

1. vocative masculine singular of sōlus

Noun

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)

Verb

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

See also

• såle (Bokmål)

Alternative forms

• sola (a-infinitive)

Verb

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

Declension

Weak:

Descendants

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