Etymograph

English

sole

Sole comes from Old French sol ‘alone’, and goes back to Latin sōlus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsōlus‘alone, single, solitary, lonely’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sol‘alone’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sole
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1905same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsōlus‘alone, single, solitary, lonely’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sol‘alone’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sole
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1905same form

Earliest quotation: 1905, H. G. Wells: “He saw now clearly that the sole crew of…”

The story

Perhaps related to Old Latin sollus (‘whole, complete’), from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (‘safe, healthy’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swé ‘self’

such, self, suicide, idiot, sans, swain, idiocy, sere, 19 more

through Latin sōlus ‘alone, single, solitary, lonely’

solo, solitary, solitude, desolate, desolation, solitaire, sullen, solus, 4 more

through Old French sol ‘alone’

sol

Another origin of sole

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swol-reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolum‘bottom, base’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolea‘sole of a shoe’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sole
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  6. Englishtodaysame form

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’).

Another origin of sole

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sūl-‘thick liquid’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sulą‘mire, wallow, mud’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*solreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sol‘mire, miry place’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘the brightest and warmest celestial body, considered to be a planet in the Ptolemic system’
  6. Englishtodaysole

Another origin of sole

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sole‘rope’
  2. Englishtodaysame form

Perhaps from sow (‘female pig’) + -le, as in the phrase "take a sow by the wrong ear", or from Middle English sole (‘rope’).

Today it means

adj Only.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin sōlus / sole

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