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 sb.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. 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. Ibid., 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. 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. S. Stylites, 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. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 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. trans. 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. 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. This 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. Kirkaldy & Pollard, trans. 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 (and lateral) wall, and a ventral horny sole, consisting of looser horn.
2. 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. Shaks., 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. J. 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. H. M. Newhall, in 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 sb.
See also Shaks. 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. G. Sandys, Trav., 127. In the sole, a stone of Porphyr, whereon (they say) she did set our Sauiour. Ibid., 157. The sole where the New City stood … is now left out of the walls of Ierusalem.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 86. The Moscheas … tis round built with good white Marble fiue 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. (1668), 187. 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 (rich slags, &c.) 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 sb.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. 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-mining, 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. J. Dwyer, Hydraulic Engineer., 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. It [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 sb.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. 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. R. 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, plow, 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. Carpentry & 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. 290/2.
(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, Ship-build. 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 of Survey, 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 J. 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. 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, Our 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. 470. 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.
III. 9. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attrib., as sole-bar, board(ing, channel, clout, cushion, etc.
Various technical terms, such as sole-bar, -piece, -plate, are employed in several special applications.
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 outside sill in a railway car.
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. Jaimeson, 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.
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. Sir 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., 2244/1. Sole-plate.… The back portion of a water-wheel bucket.
1434. in Rogers, Agric. & Prices, 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, -shaped; sole-deep, -walking.
1610. W. Folkingham, Art of Survey, I. viii. 19. Burnt, parched, soale-bound,… and wet spewing grounds. Ibid., x. 24. Crust-clung and Scale-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. T. Hardy, Tess, III. xliii. 51. It [the snow] lay sole-deep upon the floor.
1894. Pop. Sci. Monthly, XLV. June, 284/2. There still exists on this island [Madagascar] a singular cat called the Cryptoproctus, 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. H. M. Newhall, in 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.
