# sole

Pronunciation: say "SOHL" US /soʊl/, UK /səʊl/

## Adjective

1. Being the only one; belonging to, held by, or done by one person or group alone and not shared with any other.
   - Simple: Only. The one and no other, or belonging to just one person or group and not shared.
   - _Her grandfather's will named her the sole heir to his farm._
   - _Their sole objective was to finish the project before winter._

## Noun

2. The underside of a shoe or boot, the part that contacts the ground.
   - Simple: The flat bottom part of a shoe that touches the ground.
   - _The hiking boots have thick rubber soles for rough terrain._
   - _A worn sole can make walking on wet floors dangerous._
3. The bottom surface of the foot, on which a person or animal stands; also the hard underside of a horse's hoof.
   - Simple: The bottom of your foot, or the hard bottom part 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._
4. A flatfish of the family Soleidae, such as the Dover sole, or any similar flatfish sold and eaten as sole.
   - Simple: A flat sea fish with both eyes on one side, often cooked and eaten.
   - _Dover sole is a prized catch in European fish markets._
   - _Trawlers brought in baskets of fresh sole overnight._
5. The bottom or lower part of something, or the flat underside on which it rests, as of a plane, a plow, a furrow, or a gun embrasure.
   - Simple: The bottom or flat underside of something, such as a tool, a plow, or a ditch.
   - _Check that the sole of the plane is perfectly flat before you start shaving the board._
   - _Club makers grind the soles of their wedges so they glide through sand without digging in._

## Verb

6. To fit or attach a new bottom layer to a shoe or boot.
   - Simple: To put a new bottom part onto a shoe or boot.
   - _A skilled craftsman can sole a pair of dress shoes in under an hour._
   - _The workshop soles hundreds of worn boots each winter._

## Noun

7. The foot itself, considered as a whole rather than just its underside. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The whole foot, not just its underside.
8. A wooden band or yoke fastened about an ox's or cow's neck while it stands in the stall. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A wooden collar or yoke fastened around the neck of an ox or cow in its stall.

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Unique and unsurpassed; standing above all others of its kind.
- (adjective) In law, unmarried or widowed; used especially of a woman.
- (noun) The walking surface that forms the floor of a boat's or yacht's cabin.
- (noun) The floor or lowest part of a mine; also applied to a horizontal vein or lode of ore.
- (noun) A piece of timber fastened to the lower part of a rudder to bring it level with the false keel.
- (noun) The end section of the chanter, the melody pipe of a set of bagpipes.
- (noun) A pond or pool, especially a dirty pond of standing water.
- (verb) To pull by the ears; to haul or drag about.

## Origin

**Meaning 1** — From Middle English "sole," from Old French "sol" ("alone"), from Latin "sōlus" ("alone, single, solitary"). It may go back to the Proto-Indo-European reflexive pronoun "*swé," or be related to Old Latin "sollus" ("whole, complete").
**Meanings 2–7** — Latin solea ("sandal, bottom of the shoe") led to Vulgar Latin *sola, which meant "bottom of the shoe" and also "flatfish," and from there to Old French sole. The Old English word sole was strengthened by this French word. Dutch zool and German Sohle are cognates, and Latin solum ("bottom, ground, soil") is related.
**Meaning 8** — From Middle English "sole," from Old English "sāl" ("a rope, cord, line, bond"), from Proto-Germanic "*sailą" ("rope, cable"), from Proto-Indo-European "*sey-" ("to tie together"). It is cognate with Dutch "zeel" and German "Seil" ("rope, cable").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sole (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).