Sole Meaning
/səʊl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjOnly.
adjUnmarried (especially of a woman); widowed.
Sentence Examples
My sole idea was to get there as fast as possible.
That's my sole concern.
The sole surviving member of the family
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ person to survive the plane crash was a young child.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ purpose of the meeting was to discuss the new budget proposal for the next fiscal year.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1905, H. G. Wells, The Empire of the Ants:
"The Caliga was a military Shoe, with a very thick Sole, tied above the instep with leather Thongs."
— 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertations, page 147:
"Hast wandred through the world now long a day;Yet ceasest not thy wearie soles to lead"
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 9:
"But the doue found no rest for the sole of her foote, and she returned vnto him into the Arke: […]"
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 8:9:
"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."
— 1952, Nikos Kazantzakis, chapter 1, in Carl Wildman, transl., Zorba the Greek, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, translation of Βίος και πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά [Víos kai politeía tou Aléxi Zormpá], →ISBN, page 3:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ person to survive the plane crash was a young child.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ purpose of the meeting was to discuss the new budget proposal for the next fiscal year.