▪ I. sole, n.1
(səʊl)
Forms: 4– sole, 4–5 sool, 4–6 soole (6 solle), 6–7 Sc. soille, soile; 4 soul, 6 sowle, 6–7 soule; 6–7 soale, 7–8, 9 dial. soal.
[a. OF. sole (mod.F. sole in special senses), = Prov. and Pg. sola, Sp. suela (cf. It. soletta):—pop. and med.L. sola, for L. solea (whence OF. suele, seule, etc.) sandal, shoe. The leading variations of sense appear in OF., and sole n.2 is properly the same word.
A trace of the word appears in OE. in the gloss ‘Soleae, solen’ (? for ‘solan’), but there is no evidence of continuity. In the other Germanic languages it also occurs in older glosses and later becomes common, as OS. sola (pl. solun), MLG. sole, sale (LG. soal, saol, sâl, etc.), MDu. sole (zole), sool (Du. zool, Fris. soal), OHG. sola, MHG. sole, sol, rarely sule, sul (G. sohle); also Da. saale, MSw. sola, sula (Sw. såla, sula), Norw. sole, Icel. sóli.]
I. 1. a. The under surface of the foot; that part of it which normally rests or is placed upon the ground in standing or walking; also, the mark made by this on the ground (quot. c 1410).
| c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 149 La plaunte, sole. 1382 Wyclif Job xviii. 9 His sole shal ben holde with a grene. ― Acts iii. 7 The groundis and plauntis, or solis, of him ben saddid to gidere. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxiv, He knowth hym by þe traces and by his denne and by þe soole. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 903 The soole, la plante. 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 729 They bring thame farre on ambeling foiles, Bot send thame hame throw on thair soilles. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 9 Most vertuous virgin,..That..Hast wandred through the world now long a day; Yet ceasest not thy wearie soles to lead. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 95 You would think one of them was the hoof of a Goat, and the other of a Hart, both of them hollow and without soals. 1697 Dryden æneid xi. 1157 By thee protected, with our naked Soles, Thro' Flames unsing'd we march. 1830 R. Knox Béclard's Anat. 146 An undulated layer which covers..the double furrowed lines of the dermis, on the palms and soles. 1842 Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 2 From scalp to sole one slough and crust. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. xxii. 201 Our shoes are all danced out, we trow, We've but naked soles to run with. |
b. Freq. with addition of the (or his, etc.) foot.
| c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1493 Fra þe haterel oboven þe croun..tyl þe sole of þe fot doun. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 351 For greet knelynge his knees were as þe sooles of his feet. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xlix. 223 (Harl. MS.), For ther was on him noon helthe, from the toppe of his hede vnto the sole of his fote. 1535 Coverdale 1 Kings v. 3 Vntyll the Lorde delyuered them vnder the soles of his fete. 1626 Bacon Sylva §96 Pigeons bleeding, applyed to the Soales of the Feet, ease the Head. 1686 tr. Chardin's Coronat. Solyman 89 For the affront thou hast done me receive a hundred drubs upon the soles of thy feet. 1706–7 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. iii. i, A little of her Cephalick Plaister to put to the Soals of your Feet. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. ii, From the sole of my foot to the crown of my head. 1849 R. T. Claridge Cold Water Cure 168 Take a shallow foot-bath (only to cover the soles of the foot) for seven to ten minutes. |
c. Farriery. (See quots. 1805, 1831.)
| 1610 Markham Masterp. ii. c. 100 Raze both the quarters of the hoofe..from the cronet vnto the sole of the foote. 1735 Burdon Pocket Farrier 79 Never draw a Horse's Soals, on any Pretence whatever. 1798 J. Lawrence Philos. & Pract. Treat. Horses II. 233 Nothing to be cut from the soal, binders, or frog, but loose rotten scales. 1805 Boardman Dict. Veterinary Art s.v., Sole of a horse, that plate of horn which, encompassing the fleshy sole, covers the whole bottom of the foot. 1831 Youatt Horse 285 The Sole..is the under concave and elastic surface of the foot,..extending from the crust to the bars and frog. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 393/2. |
d. Zool. The inner or under side of the claw of an animal (cf. quot.).
| 1896 tr. Boas' Text-bk. Zool. 469 Like Reptiles and Birds, Mammals have cap-shaped claws at the tips of the digits, and here also they are differentiated into two parts, a harder dorsal..wall, and a ventral horny sole,..of looser horn. |
2. a. The bottom of a boot, shoe, etc.; that part of it upon which the wearer treads (freq. exclusive of the heel); one or other of the pieces of leather or other material of which this is composed (cf. insole and out-sole). Also, a separate properly-shaped piece of felt or other material placed in the bottom of a boot, shoe, etc.
Also applied to the corresponding part of a stocking or sock: see stocking-sole.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 463/2 Sole, of a schoo, solea. 1530 Palsgr. 272/1 Sole of a shoo, semelle. 1548 Act 2 & 3 Edw. VI, c. 9 §4 The inner soule of the saide double souled Shoes. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 98 A hone and a parer, like sole of a boote. 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 234 On Fortunes Cap, we are not the very Button. Ham. Nor the Soales of her Shoo? 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 34 The ashes..of an old shooe soale, helps gallings by the shooe. 1720 Humourist 84 The same Shoes, with Cork Soals, and square Toes. 1791 W. Beloe Herodotus i. I. 196 [The] sandals..consisted of one or of more soals, and were fastened with thongs above the foot. 1806 Beresford Miseries Hum. Life ii. i, The sole of the shoe torn down in walking. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. §4977 A hinge in the outer sole, to allow the foot to bend when walking. 1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 280/1 The sole in a machine-made shoe would mean a sole, an inner sole, shank piece. |
b. With punning allusion to soul n.
See also Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 123; Rom. & J. i. iv 15; ii. iv. 67, etc.
| 1603 Dekker Wonderfull Yeare Wks. (Grosart) I. 130 An honest cobler (if at least coblers can be honest that liue altogether amongest wicked soales). 1641 ‘Smectymnuus’ Vind. Answ. xiv. 179 You and they may turn Fratres Mendicantes, and go bare foot, if you part with these paire of soles. |
† c. A sandal. Obs. rare.
| 1553 Brende Q. Curtius viii. 53 When their soles [L. solea] be taken off, their feet be anointed with sweet odours. |
† d. transf. A thin piece or leaf of iron produced in the manufacture of tin-plate. Obs.
| 1728 Phil. Trans. XXXV. 631 These Leaves are drawn from Bars of Iron, about an Inch square; which being made a little flat, they cut into thin Pieces or Soles (semelles). |
II. 3. † a. The foundation of a building; the site of a city, etc. Obs. rare.
| 1417 Eng. Misc. (Surtees) 12 John Hesill sall ga lyne right fra the bak syde of hys post that standys in hys hall hend un to hys sole in thys house that he byggys. Ibid., That Hesyll may hafe rowme thar to lay hys sole, and rayse thys house. c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 391 So wold mo..that I se on this sole of wifis that ar here. 1615 Sandys Trav. 127 In the sole, a stone of Porphyr, whereon..she did set our Saviour. Ibid. 157 The sole where the New City stood..is now left out of the walls of Jerusalem. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 86 [The mosque is] round built with good white marble five yards high from the sole, the rest is dried bricks. |
b. The bottom, floor, or hearth of an oven or furnace.
| (a) 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. ii. ix, Large Ovens to bake in, the soales thereof, rather of one or two intire stones, than of many bricks. 1847 Halliwell, Sole, the floor of an oven. Linc. 1876 Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. vii. 136 Leck-stones were largely used for the linings and soles of ovens. |
| (b) 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 579, a is the ash pit vaulted under the sole of the furnace. 1864 Q. Jrnl. Sci. I. 493 When it is required to make steel, the coverings of the sole..are omitted. 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iii. 56/1 The sole of the furnace is usually 16 to 24 ft. square. |
c. Naut. (See quots.)
| c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 149 Sole, a sort of lining to prevent wearing or tearing away the main part to which it may be attached; as to the rudder, bilgeways, &c. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., The decks of the cabin and forecastle in some ships, respectively called the cabin and forecastle soles. |
4. a. = sill n.1 1 and 2. Cf. window-sole. Now rare.
| 1419–20 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 144 Et in ij liminibus de quarcu et ij soles de esch emt. pro ij sperys de novo faciendis in prædicta domo. 1433 Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 53, iij balkes, iiij stanzons, vij bandclogs, iij soles. 1541 in Proc. Antiq. Scotl. (1860) III. 161 In heicht fra the sollis of the said queir duris..xxxij futtis. 1625 Burgh Rec. Glasgow I. 347 The soillis of thair windois being fywe futes abone the flure. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. xxix. 42 A Gally-pot of Fair-water..will set it self level being placed upon the Sole of the Window. 1709 Phil. Trans. XXVI. 290 The Water, in some, was as high as the Soles of the Windows. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 139 Generally a great number of small articles are thrown on the sole of a work-horse stable window. 1866 J. E. Brogden Prov. Lincs., Sole,..the seat of a window. 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 473/1 Sill or Sole.., the horizontal base of a door or window-frame. |
b. Naut. and Fortif. (See quots.)
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Sole, a name sometimes given to the lower side of a gun-port, which however is more properly called the port-sell. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 248 The sole of the embrazure is the bottom, or space, between the cheeks, or sides. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 432 The slope of the bottom of the embrasure, called the ‘Sole’. |
c. Mining. (See quots.)
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 843 It may happen that the floor of the gallery shall not be sufficiently firm to afford a sure foundation to the standards; and it may be necessary to make them rest on a horizontal piece called the sole. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 229 Sole, a piece of timber set underneath a prop. |
d. A flat tile used as a rest or support for a draining-tile or drain-pipe.
| 1843 Mech. Mag. XXXIX. 191 Flat tiles, or soles, are formed in nearly the same manner. 1847 Dwyer Pract. Hydraulic Eng. 115 When the tiles and soles, or pipe tiles are used in minor drains, each tile should rest equally upon two soles. 1881 Mechanic 519 An excellent plan is to lay soles or flat tiles and in these to set half-pipes or bridge-pipes. |
5. † a. The rim of a wheel. Obs.—1
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §5 On marreis ground and soft ground the other wheles be better, bycause they be broder on the soule. |
b. The inner circle of a water-wheel (cf. quot. 1797).
| 1673–4 Grew Anat. Pl., Trunks (1682) 138 So also the Ladles and Soles of a Mill-wheel are always made of Elm. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 332 Elm is a Timber..proper for Water-works, Mills, Soles of Wheels, Pipes, Aquaducts. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 903/2 The inner circle..is called the Sole of the wheel, and usually consists of boards nailed to strong wooden rings of compass timber..firmly united with the arms or radii. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 84 Burn's overshot-wheel..forms a large hollow cylinder by its buckets and sole. |
c. The lower frame-timbers of a wagon, cart, etc. (cf. quots. and sill n.1 1 b).
| 1843 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VI. 265/2 The timber framing which carries the hinge on which the body of the [railway] wagon turns in the act of tipping, is called the ‘soles’. 1851 Coal-Trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 49 Sole, the part of a chaldron waggon or coal-tub frame to which the bearances for the wheels are attached, and into which the sheths are inserted. 1876 Robinson Mid-Yks. Gloss. s.v., The soles of a cart are the middle supporting timbers of the body. |
6. a. The lower part, bottom, or under surface of anything. Chiefly in more or less specific uses (cf. next).
| 1615 Crooke Body of Man 629 In Fishes onely the very tippe of the tongue is loose, the rest is fastened downe vnto the Soale of the mouth. 1660 Markham's Eng. Housew. ii. ii. 72 Put in the soal of a Manchet, a good quantity of sweet butter, and season it with Pepper [etc.]. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 289/1 The parts of a Shuttle are,..the Sole, is the Bottom of it, which is smooth shod with Iron Plate. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Fond d'affût, the sole or bottom of a gun-carriage. 1791 Selby Bridge Act 4 The sole of the said bridge..shall not be less than three feet above the..top of the present artificial or flood banks. 1811 Acc. Game Curling 3 The under surface, or sole, as it is called, is polished as nicely as possible, that the stone may move easily along. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 649 The lower piece, or sole of the engine.., is screwed down..to a strong board. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1392/2 A block or tray with a flat sole. 1887 Jamieson's Sc. Dict. Suppl. 224/1 Sole,..the flat bottom of the head of a golf-club. |
b. esp. The under part or surface of a plane-stock, plough, rudder, electrical instrument, etc.
| (a) 1678 Moxon Mech. Exerc. iv. 64 The Iron..will rise above the Sole into the Mouth of the Stock, and consequently not touch the Stuff. Ibid. vi. 113 The under-side of a Plain is called the Sole. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Builder 229 The edge of the iron of a plane is said to be rank-set when it projects considerably below the sole. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 499 The sole of a long plane is in a great measure the test of the straightness of the work. 1875 Carp. & Join. 26 In the carpenter's plane the sole quickly deteriorates, and must then be planed off true again. |
| (b) 1766 Museum Rust. VI. 427 Keep but the sole of the plough level in the ground. 1831 Sutherland Farm Rep. 71 in Husb. (L.U.K.) III, The ploughing [is] so deep as to leave some of the lime visible below the plough sole. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 156 In every plough, not only the parts above named, but the sole or under plate,..are of iron or cast metal. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 290. |
| (c) 1855 Orr's Circ. Sci., Elem. Chem. 217 One half of the instrument [i.e. the electrophorus]—to which the term ‘sole’ has been given—is now prepared, and it only remains to form the cover. 1866 R. M. Ferguson Electr. 190 The condenser is generally placed in the sole of the instrument [an induction coil], and does not meet the eye. |
| (d) 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Sole of the Rudder, a piece of timber attached to its lower part to render it nearly level with the false keel. |
c. A smooth or flat surface or side.
| 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 164 Sole of Planks; the flat Side of them. 1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 367 The stones in the boulder-clay..have one or more flat sides or ‘soles’, are smoothed or polished [etc.]. |
7. † a. (See quot.) Obs.—1
| 1610 W. Folkingham Art Surv. i. iii. 5 The vpper Crust is the Soile or Soale of the Earth. |
b. The under surface of land or soil; the subsoil. rare.
| 1683 in Macfarlane's Geogr. Collect. (S.H.S.) II. 139 This clay is not so good a sole as the other. 1796 in Robertson Agric. Perth (1799) 518 By this means I put the sole of the arable ground, or under surface, as far as I can from the upper surface. 1859 R. F. Burton Centr. Afr. in Jrnl. Geogr. Soc. XXIX. 158 Its sole displays quartzose sand, with scatters of granite. |
c. A (good, etc.) surface or bottom in a field, turf, etc.
| 1846 Brockett N.C. Gloss. (ed. 3) II. 146 If it be smooth and level it is said to have a good sole. 1893 W. Fream Youatt's Compl. Grazier x. i. 898 Crested dogstail grass..contributes materially to the production of a good ‘sole’ in the turf of pastures. |
8. a. Mining. The bottom or floor of a vein, level, or working.
| 1653 E. Manlove Customs Lead Mines 274 Sole of the Rake, Smytham, and many more. 1667 Primatt City & C. Builder 5 They have the conveniency of driving a drift or sough, from the bottom of the hills to the sole of the Rake. 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. B iv, The Sole and Roofe, or Skirt. Ibid. S iv, When Doorsteds are used, and the Sole of the Drift so soft, that it will not bear the Forks. 1789 J. Williams Min. Kingdom I. 278 The soles of the string were nearly upon a level with the soles of the vein. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 981 Pitcoal, A platform about 3 feet high is left at the sole. 1886 Holland Chesh. Gloss., Sole. Salt-mining term. The bottom of the mine. |
b. The bottom or lowest part of a valley, etc.
| 1880 V. L. Cameron Future Highway II. xii. 257 Their tents were pitched as low down as possible, some in the very sole of the valley. 1886 R. F. Burton Arab. Nts. (abr. ed.) III. 410 His men took to flight and fled along the sole of the Wady. |
c. dial. The bottom of a furrow.
| 1877 in Peacock N.W. Linc. Gloss. 232/1. |
d. Geol. The underlying or lowest thrust plane of a thrust.
| 1889 H. M. Cadell in Trans. R. Soc. Edin. XXXV. 347 This experiment shows that underneath a series of beds, repeated and heaped together by small thrusts, inclined perhaps at considerable angles, there runs..a major thrust or ‘sole’, inclined at a lower angle, along which the whole mass may have travelled for considerable distances. 1907 J. Horne in B. N. Peach et al. Geol. Struct. N.W. Highlands Scotland xxxii. 464 Owing to..the friction along the unyielding lower plane or ‘sole’ of the thrust, there was a tendency in the materials to fold over and curve under. 1965 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. (ed. 2) ix. 225 Along the sole of a major thrust severe crushing and grinding of the rocks is to be expected. |
e. Geol. The lowest layer of ice in a glacier, containing rock debris.
| 1930 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. CCXIX. 13 A rock fragment subjected to the abrasion processes in action on the sole of a glacier. 1952 Jrnl. Glaciol. II. 128 This deposit is then pulled along in a continuous manner by the movements of the glacier, thus forming the sole. 1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 87 In the roofs of these cavities we see the rock-studded glacier sole. |
f. Geol. The under-side of a sedimentary stratum.
| 1957, etc. [see sole marking, sense 9 below]. 1972 H. Blatt et al. Origin Sedimentary Rocks v. 170 Such structures are normally observed in the field on the sandstone sole. 1972 F. J. Pettijohn et al. Sand & Sandstone iv. 114 The flute..preserved as a raised structure or flute cast on the underside or sole of the overlying sand bed. |
III. 9. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attrib., as sole board(ing, sole channel, sole clout, sole cushion, etc.; sole-bar (also solebar) (see quots.); spec. a longitudinal member forming part of the under-frame of a railway carriage or wagon; sole mark, marking Geol. , a feature that is found on the undersurface of sedimentary strata which overlie softer beds, and is the cast of a depression originally formed in the surface of the lower bed; sole-plate (also soleplate) (see quots.); spec. the metal plate forming the base of an electric iron.
| 1829 Glover's Hist. Derby I. 242 Needham, a London framework-knitter, placed the trucks on the *solebar. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 414 The sloping edge d m represents the enlargement of the sole-bar, on which the share is fitted. 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Sole-bar, an out⁓side sill in a railway car. 1930 Engineering 24 Jan. 102/2 The main frame..consists of two longitudinals or solebars. 1977 Modern Railways Dec. 486/1 Current new stock..has an all-aluminium underframe with the solebars made from continuous extrusions. |
| 1577 Burgh Rec. Glasgow I. 67 The said erle furnesand glasbandis, *soil-burdis, lyme, and sand. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 326 On the inside of the shroud-plates are formed the grooves for securing the ends of the buckets and of the *sole-boarding. |
| 1891 Cent. Dict., *Sole-channel, in a boot- or shoe-sole, a groove in which the sewing is sunk to protect it from wear. |
| 1821 Scott Pirate xv, The sock, and the heel, and the *sole⁓clout of a real steady Scottish pleugh. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Sole-clout, a thick plate of cast metal attached to that part of the plough which runs on the ground. |
| 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 188/2 The pads or *sole-cushions of the spreading feet [of the camel] are divided into two toes. |
| 1417 in Eng. Misc. (Surtees) 11 Fra the *sole end of the frunt before in to the streteward. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 414 The breadth of the *sole-flange [of a plough] is 2 inches. |
| 1961 J. Challinor Dict. Geol. 185/1 *Sole-marks. 1972 J. F. Pettijohn et al. Sand & Sandstone i. iv. 113 Although they occur in almost all sands, sole marks are particularly abundant in turbidites where they provide the best means of determining current flow. 1978 Friedman & Sanders Princ. Sedimentol. iv. 110/2 (caption) Sole mark assemblage dominated by counterparts of flutes..and transverse scour marks. |
| 1957 P. H. Kuenen in Jrnl. Geol. LXV. 231/1 In a number of papers..mention is made of the occurrence of various types of markings on the sole of the graywackes. The present paper aims at presenting a coherent record of these *sole markings. 1976 R. C. Selley Introd. Sedimentol. vii. 211 Flutes, grooves and tool marks are three of the commonest sole markings found as interbed sedimentary structures. |
| 1859 Todd's Cycl. Anat. V. 531/1 The remarkable dorsal hump, and..the cushion-like *sole-pad of the Dromedary. |
| 1706 Stevens Span. Dict. i, Soléta, the *Sole⁓part of a Stockin. |
| 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. iv. 60 In..the screw ships of the Royal Navy.., the *sole-piece is very broad and shallow in wake of the aperture. 1901 Black Scaffolding 50 The next thing to do is to prepare a sole piece out of 11in. by 4in. which is laid on the firm ground so as to make a little less than a right angle with the inside of the outermost shore. |
| 1741 Phil. Trans. XLI. 564 This *Sole-plate answers the Shape of the Foot. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 310 The sole-plate on which the superstructure of the [crank-] engine is raised. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2244/2 Sole-plate, the back portion of a water-wheel bucket. 1960 Housewife Apr. 86/2 The sole⁓plate, being extra thin, heats quickly. 1974 Spartanburg (S. Carolina) Herald 24 Apr. (Sears Advts. Suppl.) 2 Has a 21-vent soleplate. Steams up to 30 minutes at a low setting. |
| 1434 in Rogers Agric. & Pr. III. 551/1 [Two] *soolshoon. 1808 Jamieson, Soleshoe, a piece of iron, on what is called the head, or that part of a plough on which the sock, or share, is fixed. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 408, H is the sole-shoe on which the plough has its principal support. |
| 1593 Rites & Mon. Ch. Durh. (Surtees) 23 The said sockett [of a cross] was maid fast with iron and lead to the *sole stone. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1248, f, the sole-stone [of a smelting-furnace], of granite, hewn out basin-shaped. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Sole Tile, a flat or bellying tile.., for the bottom of sewers, muffles, or other objects. |
b. Misc., as sole-bound, sole-shaped; sole-deep, sole-walking.
| 1610 W. Folkingham Art Surv. i. viii. 19 Burnt, parched, soale-bound,..and wet spewing grounds. Ibid. x. 24 Crust⁓clung and Soale-bound soyles. 1870 Rolleston Anim. Life 48 The sole-shaped locomotor disc known as the ‘foot’. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2243/2 A vertically moving sole-shaped die. 1891 Hardy Tess (1900) 105/1 The snow..lay sole⁓deep upon the floor. 1894 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 284 There still exists on this island a singular cat..which is plantigrade (sole-walking). |
c. Objective, chiefly in names of implements or machines (see quots.).
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2242–3 Sole-beating, -channeling, -cutting (etc.) Machine. Ibid. 2243 Sole-finishing Tool. Ibid. 2244 Sole-shaper. 1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 279/2 The curved outline of the sole is cut by passing the strips beneath two curved sliding or revolving knives in a ‘sole-cutting machine’. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 933 In ‘sole stitching’ by American machinery the men are said to have become mercurialised by volatilisation of the metal. |
▪ II. sole, n.2
(səʊl)
Forms: α. 4– sole (5 soel). β. 7–8 soal(e, 8 soall.
[a. OF. (also mod.F.) sole (= Sp. suela), of the same origin as prec., agreeing in sense with L. solea (whence Pg. solha, It. sogliola).]
1. a. A common British and European flat-fish (Solea vulgaris or solea), highly esteemed as food; one or other of the various fishes belonging to the widely-distributed genus Solea.
| α 1347 Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 41 In playces, sperling', et soles emp., vj s. x d. 1372 in Riley Mem. Lond. (1868) 367 [Certain fish called] Soles. c 1450 Two Cookery Bks. 103 Sole, boiled, rost, or fryed. Take a sole, and do awey þe hede [etc.]. c 1480 Cely Papers (Camden) 189 Item whelkes, iiij d. Item iij solys, vij d. c 1520 L. Andrew Noble Lyfe iii. lxxxv, Solea is the sole, that is a swete fisshe and holsom for seke people. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 300 Dryed fysshe as soles, maydens, playces,..& such other. 1620 Venner Via Recta iv. 72 The Sole verily is to be reckoned among the meats of primest note. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxviii. (1663) 108 It is not possible to deliver the store of fish that is taken in this river, chiefly Soles and Mullets. 1769 Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 190 The sole is found on all our coasts. 1827 Southey Devil's Walk xlviii, Now soles are exceedingly cheap. 1840 Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 324 All the Soles are excellent fishes, and may be had in good condition nearly all the year. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 324 The sole is common on the British coasts, and in season from May to November. |
| β 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. i. 117/1 The pide-coat Mackrell, Pilchard, Sprat, and Soale. 1696 Phil. Trans. XIX. 350 Here are also good plenty of large Soals, taken in Troul-nets. 1714 Gay Trivia ii. 294 The jointed Lobster, and unscaly Soale. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 33 ¶7 Dined alone in my room on a soal. 1797 P. Wakefield Mental Improv. (1801) I. 102 A small pectunculus or cockle, is the prey of the soal. |
b. In collective singular. In quot. 1700 with punning allusion to soul n.
| 1661 J. Childrey Brit. Baconica 18 Soale and Playce (both which follow the tide into the fresh rivers). 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. 21 An Old Burly Drab, that Screams out the Sale of her Maids and her Sole at the same Instant. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 336 Serve him with ven'son, and he chooses fish; With soal—that's just the sort he would not wish. 1899 Daily News 15 July 5/1 Sole is dear again, even more than usually so. |
c. In the names of various dishes, as sole bonne femme [bonne femme s.v. bonne C]; sole (à la) Colbert (see quot. 1877); sole (à la) meunière [meunière a. and adv.]; sole Véronique (see quot. 1960).
| 1846 A. Soyer Gastronomic Regenerator 115 Sole à la Colbert,..sole..butter..chopped parsley..chopped tarragon and chervil..lemon juice. Ibid., Sole à la Meûnière,..sole..chopped onions..butter..lemon..cayenne pepper. 1877 E. S. Dallas Kettner's Bk. of Table 136 The sole of Colbert..is a fried sole which after being cooked is boned and then filled with maître d'hôtel butter and with lemon-juice. 1928 D. L. Sayers Unpleasantness at Bellona Club vii. 71 He..had a sole Colbert very well cooked. 1930 R. Lehmann Note in Music v. 205 He..ordered sole bonne femme, a mixed grill, salad, trifle, a welsh rarebit. 1960 Good Housek. Cookery Book 95/2 Sole Véronique,..sole..mushrooms..wine..cream..grapes..butter. 1966 Harper's Bazaar Sept. 87/3 She..does sole Véronique with lichees instead of grapes. 1967 G. Greene May we borrow your Husband? 185 For a while the sole meunière gave them an excuse not to talk. 1978 F. Mullally Deadly Payoff xi. 142 The two burly men would..plough through a hearty meal of sea-food, sole meuniere and Stilton. 1979 ‘L. Black’ Penny Murders iv. 38 Kate..declared she would make it a fish day..a sole. Should it be Véronique with white grapes, or à la Dugléré [sic], cooked in white wine with tomatoes and shallots? |
2. With distinguishing terms.
See also lemon n.2
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 141 Common Sole. Spotted Sole. 1839 Yarrell Suppl. Brit. Fishes 36 The Solenette, or Little Sole. 1840 tr. Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 324 S. vulgaris, the Common Sole, is dark-brown on the upper part. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 263/2 Of the subgenus Monochirus, one species is found on the British coast, and is known by the names Variegated Sole, Red-backed Flounder, &c. (M. linguatulus). |
3. In American and Australasian use: One or other of various fishes belonging to related genera (esp. Achirus) or to the family Pleuronectidæ.
| 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 841 Achirus. Soles. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 175 The much-prized Sole of Europe, Solea Vulgaris, does not occur in the Western Atlantic... Its nearest representative, the American Sole, is found along our coast from Boston. Ibid. 182–188. 1898 Morris Austral Eng. 426. 1903 Goode & Gill Amer. Fishes p. lxviii. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as sole fillet, sole potage, sole-pritching, sole-skin; sole-like adj.
| 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v. Fish Potages, To prepare a Sole Potage for Fish Days. Ibid. s.v. Sole, A Dish of Sole Fillets with a Lentil-Cullis. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales II. 118 He dwelt with delight on sole-pritching, mackerel-fishing, and cod-fishing. 1859 Sala Gaslight & D. x. 120 Dried soleskins wherewith to clear the decoction of the Indian berry. 1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 67 The second sub-order [of Anacanthini] consists of the Sole-like division, the Pleuronectoidei. |
▪ III. sole, n.3 Now dial.
(səʊl)
Forms: 1 sal, 3 sol, 4, 6, 9 sole, 5 soole, 7 soale, 9 soal, etc. (See also sale n.3)
[OE. sál, = OS. sêl (MLG. and LG. sêl, seil), MDu. seel (Du. zeel, Fris. seel), OHG. and G. seil, ON. seil, Goth. *sail (cf. insailjan vb.). Cf. seal n.3 and v.2]
† 1. A rope, cord, etc. Obs.
| Beowulf 1906 Þa wæs be mæste..seᵹl sale fæst. c 1000 Gen. 372 Me..rideð racentan sal. c 1275 XI Pains of Hell 162 in O.E. Misc. 151 Of heom hi token vnriht mol, For-þi hi drayeþ myd such sol. 1345–6 Ely Sacr. Rolls (1907) II. 139 In soles empt. pro dictis Bauderykk. |
2. spec. A rope or cord for tethering or tying up cattle; a wooden collar or yoke used to fasten a cow, etc., in the stall.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 463 Soole, beestys teyynge, trimembrale,..ligaculum. 1530 Palsgr. 272/2 Sole, a bowe about a beestes necke. 1547 Salesbury Welsh Dict., Aerwy, sole. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 38 Soles, fetters, and shackles, with horselock and pad. 1647 Hexham i, A Sole to tye beasts. 1660 Chirk Castle Acc. (1908) 93, 3 dozen of soales to tye the cattle. 1826– in dial. glossaries and texts (N.Cy., Lancs., Chesh., Derby, Shrops., Heref.). 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Sole, the noose or loop made of wood attached to one end of the foddering cord, in order to strain the cord up tight. |
▪ IV. sole, n.4 Kent. dial. ? Obs.
[OE. sol mire, a muddy or miry place (freq. in place-names), = OHG. sol (MHG. sol, söl, G. dial. sol, sohl).]
A pond or pool.
| 15.. in Pegge Kenticisms (E.D.S.) 48 Besyde the watteringe-sole in thende of Yckhame Streete. 1736 J. Lewis Hist. Thanet (ed. 2) 38 Soal, a dirty Pond of standing Water. 1736 Pegge Kenticisms (E.D.S.) 48 Sole, a pond, or pool. |
▪ V. sole
obs. f. soul n.; dial. var. sowel, stake.
▪ VI. sole, a.
(səʊl)
Forms: 4–5 soul(e, 5 sool(l (sowle, soell), 5–6 soole, 5– sole.
[a. OF. soul (fem. soule), sol (fem. sole), also sul, suel, seul (mod.F. seul, seule), = Prov. sol, Pg. só, Sp. and It. solo:—L. sōlum, acc. sing. of sōlus alone. In later use prob. to some extent directly from Latin.]
1. Having no husband or wife; single, unmarried; † celibate. Chiefly in legal use and freq. of women. Now rare or Obs. a. In predicative use.
The quotations in the first group illustrate the common phrase to live sole.
| (a) c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 836 Ne wold he that sche were love ne wyf, But ever lyve as wydow.., Soul as the turtil that lost hath hir make. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 134 And for it is an impossible To fynde ever suche a wyfe I wil live sowle duryng my lyfe. 1469 Bury Wills (Camden) 45 Yf she will leve sowle withowth an husbonde. 1541 Barnes Wks. (1573) 311/2, I doe not reprooue that Priestes doth lyue sole. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 95 King Edward the Confessor (being otherwise of himself disposed to haue liued sole) tooke unto his wife Edgitha. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. 163 Indeed Grindal, living, and dying sole, and single, could not be cockering to his own children. |
| (b) 1418 E.E. Wills (1882) 34 Ȝif Ionet my wif kepe here soole, withoute husbonde, Twelf-monthe after my decese. 1464 Rolls of Parlt. V. 525/2 Eny Gyft or Graunte, by us to hir made while she was soule. 1520 in Laing Charters (1899) 82 As longe as she kepeth hirselve sole and wydow. 1548 Somerset Epist. to Scots B iij b, Yov wil not kepe her sole and vnmaried. 1596 Bacon Max. & Use Com. Law ix. (1630) 36 The reason is, because shee was once sole. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 107 Some others are such as a Man cannot make his Wife, though he himself be sole and unmarry'd. 1827 Jarman Powell's Devises II. 289 That her said daughter Martha should pay unto her daughter Mary 30l. yearly, while sole and unmarried. |
b. Attrib., or placed immediately after the n. woman sole = feme-sole s.v. feme.
| (a) 1464 Rolls of Parlt. V. 548/2 As if she..were woman soule. 1509–10 Act 1 Hen. VIII, c. 18 §2 She [shall] be able..to sue in her owen name only as a Woman sole. 1628 Coke On Litt. 66 If a woman sole shall doe homage. 1642 tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. i. §47. 21 If a woman sole enfeoffe a stranger. |
| (b) 1464 Rolls of Parlt. V. 549/1 If she were or had been soule woman at the tyme. 1485 Ibid. VI. 285/2 The Countess shall hold..as anie other sole persone not covert of anie Husband. 1558 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 7 Albeit he were a sole man without charge of wife or children. 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. ii. v. H iij b, Least some shoulde replye..That thou doest good to sole olde men. 1618 J. Wilkinson Coroners & Sherifes ii. 22 Where any..do make themselues to be beloved of any sole woman, as maide, or widow. 1753–4 Richardson Grandison (1781) I. xiv. 84 To what evils..might not I, a sole, an independent young woman, have been exposed? |
† c. Of life: Pertaining to or involving celibacy.
Common from c 1550 to 1590.
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 45 These lawes doe declare, how little it is for the common weales aduancement, that..a Citee should be lesned for loue of sole life. 1579 W. Fulke Ref. Rastel 791 He which hath forsaken the profession of sole life, and fallen to..marriage. 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man v. (1603) 534 Some [men] like a sole life, others thinke it no life without a companion. |
2. a. Without companions; apart from or unaccompanied by another or others; alone, solitary. Usually predicative.
Common c 1400–1450, and freq. with the addition by himself or herself.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 3023 He was not soole, for ther was moo; For with hym were other twoo. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. 29 The kyng..went allone In-to a wode for to make his mone, Sool by hym silfe. 1474 Caxton Chesse iv. ii. (1883) 168 Whan the kynge hath goon so ferre that alle his men be lost, than he is sole. 1530 Palsgr. 324/2 Sole, alone or solytary, seul. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. 77 Shall valiant Scipio Thus himselfe esteem, Never less sole then when he sole doth seem? 1650 Howell Fam. Lett. II. 121, I am oft times sole, but seldom solitary. 1716 Pope Iliad viii. 250 Sole should he sit, with scarce a God to friend. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 722 All abandon'd to despair, she sings Her sorrows through the night; and on the bough, Sole-sitting [etc.]. 1817 Byron Manfred ii. ii. 10, I should be sole in this sweet solitude. 1857 Arnold Rugby Chapel Wks. (1890) 310 Sole they shall stray. |
| attrib. 1609 Bible (Douay) Baruch iv. 16 A wicked nation..which..have led away the beloved of the widow, and made the sole woman [L. unicam] desolate of children. 1789 Triumphs Fortitude I. 136 As I have none to accuse but myself, so none but myself (sole being as I am) can be involved in its consequences. |
† b. Separated from another. Obs.—1
| c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 2703, I abood, Lefte al sool fro my maistresse. |
c. Of places: Solitary, lonely; secluded.
| 1598 Yong Diana 43 When I behold The place so sorrowfull and sole. a 1618 J. Davies (Heref.) Wit's Pilgr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 42/1 No State so holie, nor no place so Sole..but is full of Doubt. 1887 Swinburne Locrine i. ii. 190 There is a bower..still and sole As love could choose for harbourage. |
3. a. Being, or consisting of, one person only.
corporation sole: see corporation 3.
| 1399 Langl. R. Redeles i. 62 All was felawis and felawschepe,..No soule persone to punnyshe þe wrongis. 1616 R. C. Times Whistle (1871) 58 Although he had noe other company But his sole single selfe to satisfie. 1654 Fuller Two Serm. 6 No meere man by his sole selfe without Gods assistance. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 469 These [two powers] are very unnecessary to a corporation sole. 1861 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. xvii. 272 n., Each chapter is a corporation aggregate, and each parson is a corporation sole. |
† b. one sole, one and no more, one only, a single (person or thing). Obs.
| c 1450 Merlin vii. 110 Eche of yow is but oon sole man. 1450–80 tr. Secreta Secret. xxvii. 20 Truste thou neuyr in oon sool ffisiciane. 1613 W. Browne Brit. Past. i. i, A jewell, which was never sent To be possest by one sole element. 1626 C. Potter tr. Sarpi's Hist. Quarrels 352 The Ambassador had not..disbursed one sole denier. 1639 N. N. tr. Du Bosq's Compl. Woman i. F 4, Is there one sole word in all this worke, to..engender an evill thought? |
† 4. a. In predicative or quasi-advb. use: With no other person or persons; without participator, partner, sharer, etc., in something, esp. in rights, duties, or possessions. Obs.
| c 1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. viii. 49 Lete ihesu be sool þy derlyng and þy special. 1450 Rolls of Parlt. V. 190/1 Eny thyng by us to hym graunted soule, or by us graunted to hym and eny other person or persons joyntly with hym. 1477 Ibid. VI. 194/2 Every other persone to whose use the said Duke is sole seised in eny Castelles. 1642 tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. iii. §205. 92 One of the Chapter is sole seised in fee of his owne right of land. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 100, I, when no other durst, sole undertook The dismal expedition. |
† b. Standing alone; uncontrolled by others.
| 1748 Richardson Clarissa xiii. I. 74 My father himself could not bear that I should be made Sole, as I may call it, and independent. |
5. One and only: a. Of things.
| 1497 Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. C j/1 For ye sole ryght⁓wysnes is in him. 1592 Sol. & Pers. ii. i, The murtherer will escape Without reueuge, sole salue for such a sore. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 113 Sir Arthur Chichester had taken the sole Castle held in those parts..by Brian mac Art. 1696 Whiston The. Earth ii. (1722) 185 This is the sole way of bringing natural Knowledge to perfection. 1726 Swift Gulliver iv. xii, But as my sole intention was the public good, I cannot be altogether disappointed. 1798 Ferriar Varieties of Man 223 Those who read for the sole purpose of talking. 1829 Lytton Devereux i. iii, I believe my sole crime was candour. 1862 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. (ed. 2) iii. §3. 177 In this case water and the compound ether are the sole products. 1883 Gilmour Mongols xxiii. 285 He was..the sole support of his father. |
b. Of persons.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 1506 Athalia..Commaunded to slee the kynges children all That she myght regne sole princesse imperiall. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 167 b, Lady Alice, the only child and sole heire of Thomas Montacute. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. xii. 30 For death t' adward I ween'd did appertaine To none, but to the seas sole Soueraine. 1647 in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 214 In that will my father was left sole executor. 1652 Nicholas P. (Camden) 321 L{supd} Culpepper design'd by some both in France and Holland to be the K.'s great and sole minister in Holland. 1736 Butler Anal. ii. vii. Wks. 1874 I. 351 The sole author of such a work. 1771 Junius Lett. xlviii. (1788) 264 You have..maintained, that the house of commons are the sole judges of their own privileges. 1836 Thirlwall Greece III. 233 Laches, now sole commander, landed a body of the allied troops on the Sicilian coast. 1839 F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 74 The sole manager of these estates. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 399 Sent to me by Mr. Scholzig, who is their sole agent. |
| absol. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 28 O Sole in whom my thoughts find all repose! |
c. Singular, unique, unrivalled.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxvi. (1495) 921 This vnyte [of the Trinity] muste be sole and synguler wythout pere. 1595 Shakes. John iv. iii. 52 This [murder] so sole, and so vnmatcheable. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 272 He seems A Phœnix, gaz'd by all, as that sole Bird When..to ægyptian Theb's he flies. 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. ii. 487 The priestly ephod in sole glory swept, When Christ ascended. 1867 Howells Ital. Journ. 178 There is a lovely palm-tree, rare, if not sole in that latitude. 1870 Deutsch Rem. (1874) 193 God is sole of His kind. |
† d. Placed before a n., in the sense of ‘alone’ following it. Obs. rare.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxix. iii, Since thy sole edicts containe it, Who search not them how can they gaine it? 1634 Sir T. Hawkins Pol. Observ. 3 That mountaine of fortune which is to be aimed at by sole vertue. |
† 6. Of things, qualities, etc.: Unaccompanied by other things or qualities; standing alone. Obs.
| (a) 1542 Boorde Dyetary x. (1870) 252 Water is not holsome, sole by it selfe. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1906) 148 Wisdom and folly in thee Is as it were a thing by itself sool. |
| (b) 1590 Swinburne Testaments 148 When the testator doth not referre his disposition to the sole onelye will of another person,..but to the concreate will, or will ioyned with fact. 1592 West 1st Pt. Symbol. §21 c, Hereupon contracts by consent are defined [as] contracts hauing cause placed in sole consent. 1609 Bible (Douay) Gen. ii. 17 comm., Neither could it..be better..signified how bad a thing sole disobedience is [etc.]. 1622 in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 209 He seeks no other caution or security than the King's sole word. |
7. a. Of things, rights, duties, etc.: Pertaining or due to, possessed or exercised by, vested in, etc., one person or corporate body to the exclusion of all others; exclusive.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lvi. §5 Euery of them may haue their sole and seuerall possessions. 1611 Knolles Hist. Turkes (1638) 167 Vpon any ambitious conceit, or desire of the sole Gouernment. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Eng. vi. (1662) 19 This power was sometime sole in a single person and sometimes equally in two together. 1766 Blackstone Comm. II. 216 The right of sole succession..was also established with respect to female dignities and titles of honour. 1788 Reid Aristotle's Logic iv. i. 67 A theory of which he claims the sole invention. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 486 Where an estate is vested in trustees, for the sole and separate use of a married woman. 1867 Ruskin Time & Tide xxiii. §154 Supreme judges..exercising sole authority in courts of final appeal. 1879 Athenæum 6 Sept. 304/3 The present postage system is the sole and undisputed invention of Sir Rowland Hill. |
b. Similarly of actions.
| 1562 Apol. Priv. Masse (1850) 9 But you have the other signification of this term private: that is the sole receiving of the sacrament by the priest. 1621 in Elsing Lords' Deb. (Camden) App. 153 The priviledge of the sole printing of the Bible. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxii. 119 The End of their Incorporating, is to make their gaine the greater,..by sole buying, and sole selling, both at home, and abroad. 1825 Scott Betrothed xvii, A good housewife, who..will sometimes even condescend to dress a dish for her husband's sole eating. |
8. Uniform or unvaried.
| 1845 A. M. Hall Whiteboy v. 38 Land..at one time covered with the snowy blossoms of the wild-rush, and at others exhibiting a sole surface of dark brown peat. 1885 Miss Gatty Juliana H. Ewing iii. 57 He was required to distemper the walls of the drawing-room with a sole colour. |
9. In quasi-advb. use: Solely.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 203 To shew thy thrift soole. 1581 A. Hall Iliad ii. 31 The burden great, his brother then did beare Sole for his sake in these turmoyles. 1812 Cary Dante, Parad. v. 22 Liberty of will; the boon, wherewith All intellectual creatures, and them sole,..[God] hath endow'd. 1820 Byron Morg. Mag. xxv, Think not they lived on locusts sole. 1827 Pollok Course T. viii, Good and bad..distinguished sole the sons Of men. |
10. Comb. a. With vbl. ns. and pres. pples., as sole-being, sole-speaking; sole-justifying, sole-lying, sole-reigning, sole-ruling, etc.
| 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 71 He wolde flye fro solytarynesse and soole beyng, and wolde seke out a felowe of his study. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. xlvii. i, God,..Who high and highlie feared stands, Of all the earth sole-ruling king. 1596 Edw. III, ii. i, Your progenitour Sole ragning Adam. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. iii. iv, He has the monopoly of sole-speaking. Why, good Sir? you talke all. 1642 J. Eaton Honey-c. Free Justif. 427 The only soule-saving and sole-saving voice of Christ. 1811 J. P. Malcolm Mann. & Cust. London (ed. 2) II. ii. 20 The true nature of sole-justifying faith. 1831 Wordsw. To B. R. Haydon 8 The one Man that laboured to enslave The World, sole-standing high on the bare hill. 1859 G. Meredith R. Feverel xxi, Two swallows, mates in one nest,..who twittered..to the sole-lying beauty in her bed. |
b. With pa. pples., etc., as sole-begotten, sole-commissioned, sole-seated, sole-thoughted; also sole-happy, sole-selfly, sole-sufficient.
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. 1123 And Death..Comes very late to his sole-seated Lodge. 1605 Ibid. ii. iii. i. Vocation 1114 Nor as inviron'd,..But rather, as sole-selfly limited, And joyn'd to place. 1606 Ibid. iv. ii. Magnificence 987 Sole-happy Causes of this sumptuous Feast. 1631 Eng. Primer of Our Lady 30 Glorie to th' unbegotten Father, And to His sole begotten Son. 1656 R. Sibbs Conf. Christ & Mary 71 God is all-sufficient, self-sufficient, sole-sufficient. 1711 Shaftesbury Charact. (1737) III. 340 Is it true..that their excellencys of the present establishment are the sole⁓commission'd? 1820 Keats Eve of St. Agnes v, These let us wish away, And turn, sole-thoughted, to one Lady there. |
c. Special combs., as sole-charge attrib. N.Z., (a) of a teacher: that has sole charge of a school; (b) of a school: having only one teacher; also absol.; sole-coloured a., of a single uniform colour; self coloured; † sole-sale, a monopoly; † sole-talk, a soliloquy.
| 1941 A. Curnow Island & Time 12, I am the sums the sole-charge teachers teach. 1944 H. Wilson Moonshine ii. 21 It's [sc. the school's] a sole charge. 1955 D. O. W. Hall Portrait of N.Z. ix. 171 Small country settlements have their ‘sole charge’ or single-teacher schools. |
| 1885 Miss Gatty Juliana H. Ewing iii. 57 The sole⁓coloured walls well covered with pictures. |
| 1596 Bp. W. Barlow Three Serm. ii. 49 The intollerable licenses of Monopoles and Solesales. |
| 1616 T. Rogers (title), Soliloquium Animæ; The sole-talke of the Soule. |
▪ VII. sole
variant of sol a., dirty. Obs.
▪ VIII. sole, v.1
(səʊl)
Also 7 soel, Sc. soill; 7–8 soal, Sc. soll.
[f. sole n.1, perh. through the vbl. n., which is found earlier. Cf. MDu. solen (Du. zolen; Fris. soalje), LG. solen, salen, MHG. solen (G. sohlen, besohlen); also Sp. and Pg. solar.]
1. trans. To provide or furnish (a boot, shoe, stocking, etc.) with a sole.
| (a) 1570 Levins Manip. 160 To sole, solum adhibere. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Carreler, to sole shoes. 1598 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 112 Soleinge one pare of shoes, v{supd}. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 175 The Scythians make them shooes, and soal them with the backs of Fox and Mise skins. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 217 A peripatetic Cobler scorn'd to soal A pair of Shoes of any other School. 1726 Swift Gulliver iv. x, I soaled my shoes with wood. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxix, The deil flay the hide o' it to sole his brogues wi'! 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. vii. §2. 509 [Gutta percha] is employed as a substitute for leather in soling boots and shoes. 1906 Sherring Western Tibet iv. 65 Their shoes..are soled with rope very ingeniously and finely plaited. |
| absol. 1824 Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 45/1 He is at liberty to make a shoe anywhere;..he may sole on the Mississippi,—heel on the Missouri. |
| (b) 1578 in Archæologia XXV. 566 Given to a tailor for solinge a payre of stockinges. 1602 Segar Honor, Milit. & Civ. ii. xi. 71 Two others shall put on his blacke nether⁓stockes soled with leather. 1664 in Maitland Club Miscell. (1840) II. 517 For solling his Lordships stockengis. |
b. To cover with or as with a sole.
| 1681 Grew Musæum i. vii. ii. 167 The fore-feet are soled each with four little Tufts of Down or short Hair. Ibid. 170 His Feet soled with a treble Tuft of a close short..Down. |
c. To fit the head of a gold-club with a sole.
| 1905 Golf & How to Play it 11. |
2. transf. To form the base or bottom of.
| a 1643 Cartwright Ordinary iv. i, My debt-books shall soal Pyes at young Andrew's wedding. 1714 Lady G. Baillie Househ. Bk. (S.H.S.) 247 For stones to soll the big oven. |
3. Golf. To place the sole of a club on the ground in preparing for a stroke. Also refl. and absol.
| 1909 P. A. Vaile Mod. Golf 27 Nearly all professionals, when addressing their ball for the put, sole the putter in front of the ball. Ibid. 29 The professional soles in front of his ball because [etc.]. Ibid., The driver is made so that it should sole itself when allowed to rest naturally on the ground. |
▪ IX. † sole, v.2 Obs.
Also 7 soyle, soal.
[ad. OF. soler, soller, souler, var. of chouler, etc.: see chulle v.]
trans. To throw (a bowl). Also intr. of the bowl.
| 1638 Wentworth in Carte Collect. Lett. (1735) III. 25 The bowl that soyles faire is more probable to run with comeliness and certainty to the mark it is sent. 1658 Bramhall Schism Guarded Wks. (1677) 296 ‘It were strange if he should throw a good cast, who soals his Bowl upon an undersong,’ alluding to that ordinary and elegant expression in our English Tongue, ‘Soal your Bowl well’, that is, be careful to begin your work well. 1679 Coles Lat. Dict. 1, To sole a bowl, probe et rite emittere globum. |
▪ X. † sole, v.3 Obs. rare.
[OE. solian, = MDu. and MLG. solen, OHG. solôn (MHG. solen): cf. sol a.]
intr. To become foul or dirty.
| c 1000 Reimlied 67 Searo hwit solaþ, sumur hat colað. c 1250 Owl & Night. 1276 Nis noht so hot þat hit nacoleþ Ne noht so hwit þat hit ne soleþ. |
▪ XI. sole
obs. form of sowl v.