soule

See also: Soule, soulé, soulè, soûle, and soûlé

English

Noun

soule (plural soules)

1. 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

• Eolus, Seoul, eusol, loues, louse, oules, ousel

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ul

Verb

soule

1. inflection of souler:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• loues, loués
• Séoul

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)

1. A soul or spirit; an animating force:
   1. 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, 2019 January 10:

        ¶ 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.

   2. The (characteristic) soul of animals or plants.
   3. (alchemy) A refined animating substance akin to the soul.
2. Life, energy; earthly existence.
3. (biblical) A person or human being.
4. The mind or heart; one's capacity for thought or emotion.
5. One's intent or goal; that which one wants.

Usage notes

• Often found in contrast or combination with body or flesch.

Derived terms

• soule-hele

Descendants

• English: soul (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: saul, sowel

References

• “soul(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

soule

1. alternative form of sowel (“food”)

References

• “sǒuel, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Noun

soule

1. alternative form of sowel (“staff, stake”)

References

• “souel, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.