What does "sole" mean?
The bottom or plantar surface of the foot.
Sole
/səʊl/ adj, name, noun, verb
adj, name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The bottom or plantar surface of the foot.
- Grammar: sole is listed as adj, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: a certain, a single, absolute, alone.
- Useful contrasts: accompanying, collective, common.
- Usage evidence: My sole idea was to get there as fast as possible.
How to use "sole"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "sole" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "sole" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "sole" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "sole" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "sole" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "a certain" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "sole", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The bottom or plantar surface of the foot.
- 2 A wooden band or yoke put around the neck of an ox or cow in the stall. dialectal, obsolete
- 3 A pond or pool; a dirty pond of standing water. Northern-England, dialectal
- 4 right-eyed flatfish; many are valued as food; most common in warm seas especially European wordnet
- 5 The bottom of a shoe or boot.
"The Caliga was a military Shoe, with a very thick Sole, tied above the instep with leather Thongs."
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 the underside of footwear or a golf club wordnet
- 7 The foot itself. obsolete
"Hast wandred through the world now long a day;Yet ceasest not thy wearie soles to lead"
- 8 the underside of the foot wordnet
- 9 Solea solea, a flatfish of the family Soleidae; a true sole.
"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 lean flesh of any of several flatfish wordnet
- 11 A flatfish resembling those of the family Soleidae. broadly
- 12 The bottom or lower part of anything, or that on which anything rests in standing.; The bottom of the body of a plough; the slade.
- 13 The bottom or lower part of anything, or that on which anything rests in standing.; The bottom of a furrow.
- 14 The bottom or lower part of anything, or that on which anything rests in standing.; The end section of the chanter of a set of bagpipes.
- 15 The bottom or lower part of anything, or that on which anything rests in standing.; The horny substance under a horse's foot, which protects the more tender parts.
- 16 The bottom or lower part of anything, or that on which anything rests in standing.; The bottom of an embrasure.
- 17 The bottom or lower part of anything, or that on which anything rests in standing.; 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"
- 18 The bottom or lower part of anything, or that on which anything rests in standing.; The floor inside the cabin of a yacht or boat
- 19 The seat or bottom of a mine; applied to horizontal veins or lodes.
Verb
- 1 To put a sole on a shoe or a boot. transitive
- 2 To pull by the ears; to pull about; haul; lug. UK, dialectal, transitive
- 3 put a new sole on wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Only. not-comparable
"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 Unmarried (especially of a woman); widowed. not-comparable
- 3 Unique; unsurpassed. not-comparable
"The sole brilliance of this gem."
- 4 With independent power; unfettered. not-comparable
"A sole authority."
Adjective
- 1 not divided or shared with others wordnet
- 2 being the only one; single and isolated from others wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A sea area, corresponding to the Sole Bank, to the north of FitzRoy
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"My sole idea was to get there as fast as possible."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "sole"?
Common synonyms include: a certain, a single, absolute, alone, an, any.
How do you use "sole" in a sentence?
My sole idea was to get there as fast as possible.
How do you pronounce "sole"?
Pronounced /səʊl/.
Etymology
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.
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. Compare typologically Russian по́чва (póčva) akin to подо́шва (podóšva).
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”).
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.
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.