soule
English
Noun
soule (plural soules)
- Obsolete spelling of soul.
- 1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Cure of Deſpaire by Phyſick, good counſell, comforts, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy. […], 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Robert Young, Miles Flesher, and Leonard Lichfield and William Turner] for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 4, member 3, subsection 6, page 707:
- His mercy is a panacea, a balſome for an afflicted ſoule, a Soveraigne medicine, an alexipharmacum for all ſinne, a charme for the Divell, his mercy was great to Solomon, to Manaſſes, to Peter, great to all offenders, and whoſoever thou art, it may be ſo to thee.
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Verb
soule
- inflection of souler:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Anagrams
Middle English
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old English sāwol, sāwel, from Proto-West Germanic *saiwalu, from Proto-Germanic *saiwalō. The final vowel is generalised from the Old English oblique forms.
Alternative forms
- saul, saule, souel, soul, soull, soulle, sowel, sowele, sowle, sowll, sowyl
- sauele, sawlæ, sawle, sæule (Early Middle English)
- sauel, saull, saulle, sawel, sawele, sawell, sawil, sawle (Northern)
- zaule (Kent)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɔu̯l(ə)/
- (early or Northern) IPA(key): /ˈsɑu̯l(ə)/
Noun
soule (plural soules or soulen or (early) soule)
- A soul or spirit; an animating force:
- The human soul (seen as granting sapience and surviving after death).
- c. 1390 [c. 1225], “Furſte dole: ſeruiſe”, in Þe roule of reclous (Ancrene Wisse, Bodleian MS. Eng. poet. a. 1)[1], Worcestershire, folio 372, verso; republished at Oxford: Digital Bodleian, 10 January 2019:
- ¶ ffıftene pſalm᷒ ſıggeþ. on þis wyſe. ¶ Þe ffurſte fyue. foꝛ ow self⹎ and foꝛ alle. þat ow good doþ. oþer wilneþ. ¶ Þe oþer ffyue⹎ foꝛ þe pees of holy chırche. ¶ Þe þride fyue⹎ foꝛ alle crıstene ſoules
- Say the fifteen Psalms in this way: the first five for yourselves and for all those who act or wish well towards you, the next five for the peace of Holy Church, and the third five for all Christian souls.
- The (characteristic) soul of animals or plants.
- (alchemy) A refined animating substance akin to the soul.
- The human soul (seen as granting sapience and surviving after death).
- Life, energy; earthly existence.
- (biblical) A person or human being.
- The mind or heart; one's capacity for thought or emotion.
- One's intent or goal; that which one wants.
Usage notes
Derived terms
Descendants
References
- “soul(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2
Noun
soule
- alternative form of sowel (“food”)
References
- “sǒuel, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3
Noun
soule
- alternative form of sowel (“staff, stake”)
References
- “souel, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.