sole

Pluralsoles

Formssoles, soling, soled

1. 1
   adjective

   Being the only one; belonging to, held by, or done by one person or group alone and not shared with any other.

   Her grandfather's will named her the sole heir to his farm.

   Their sole objective was to finish the project before winter.

   UsageUsually after the or a possessive: the sole heir, her sole aim. Soul, the spirit, is a different word.

   Similarlone

   Oppositejoint, shared

   Note

   H. G. Wells's The Empire of the Ants (1905) shows its typical frame, the sole plus a noun: "the sole crew of the vessel was these two dead men." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • H. G. Wells wrote The Empire of the Ants. en.wikipedia.org
   • The story was first published in 1905. en.wikipedia.org
   • The quoted words occur in the story's narration. en.wikisource.org
2. 2
   shoe bottomnouncountable

   The underside of a shoe or boot, the part that contacts the ground.

   The hiking boots have thick rubber soles for rough terrain.

   A worn sole can make walking on wet floors dangerous.

   Note

   Footwear divides into the sole, the layer that meets the ground, and the upper above it. John Arbuthnot's Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures (1727) uses the word for Roman army boots: the caliga was "a military Shoe, with a very thick Sole." The trade's verb, to fit a new sole, is formed directly from this noun. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

   • The sole is the bottom part of footwear that contacts the ground. en.wikipedia.org
   • The upper is the footwear structure above the sole. en.wikipedia.org
   • John Arbuthnot wrote Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. wellcomecollection.org
   • The book was published in 1727. archive.org
   • Arbuthnot describes the caliga using the quoted words. en.m.wiktionary.org
   • The verb sole, meaning to furnish footwear with soles, is formed from the noun. whichenglish.com
3. 3
   nouncountable

   The bottom surface of the foot, on which a person or animal stands; also the hard underside of a horse's hoof.

   Calluses formed on the soles of the runner's feet.

   A splinter lodged in the sole of his bare foot.

   Note

   The anatomical word has a Latin twin, planta, which gives anatomists the adjective plantar for this side of the foot. The English noun comes through Old English sole from Latin solea, a word that meant the sandal and the bottom of the shoe. Foot and footwear were tied together in the word from the start. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Latin planta means the sole of the foot and supplies the anatomical adjective plantar. wortmann-beyle-sanitaetshaus.de
   • English sole descends through Old English sole. en.m.wiktionary.org
   • Old English sole was borrowed from Latin solea. en.m.wiktionary.org
   • Latin solea meant a sandal and the sole of a shoe. en.wiktionary.org
   • The word's early history connects soles and footwear. en.m.wiktionary.org
4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A flatfish of the family Soleidae, such as the Dover sole, or any similar flatfish sold and eaten as sole.

   Dover sole is a prized catch in European fish markets.

   Trawlers brought in baskets of fresh sole overnight.

   UsageFor food in general, use sole without a: grilled sole. For one whole fish, including one served as food, use a sole.

   Note

   The fish takes its name from the same Latin as the shoe. Vulgar Latin *sola meant both "bottom of the shoe" and "flatfish." Zoologists keep "true sole" for Solea solea and its family, the Soleidae. The plural is soles, as in Carl Wildman's 1952 translation of Kazantzakis's Zorba the Greek: "Soles, hog fish and skate were returning from their nocturnal expeditions." Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The fish name shares its Latin origin with the footwear word. en.wikipedia.org
   • Reconstructed Vulgar Latin *sola meant both the bottom of a shoe and a flatfish. en.m.wiktionary.org
   • True soles are the Soleidae family, including Solea solea. en.wikipedia.org
   • Nikos Kazantzakis wrote Zorba the Greek, and Carl Wildman's English translation appeared in 1952. archive.org
   • The narrator's complete sentence is: "Soles, hog fish and skate were returning from their nocturnal expeditions." The item silently truncates it. en.m.wiktionary.org

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