sole: English has three separate words sole, two of them closely related. Sole ‘underneath of the foot’ [14] comes via Old French sole from Vulgar Latin *sola, a descendant of Latin solea ‘sandal, sill’ (a possible relative of English sill). And this in turn was derived from Latin solum ‘ground, sole of the foot’ (a possible contributor to English soil). Sole ‘flatfish’ [14] was independently borrowed from Old French sole in the sense ‘flatfish’, a metaphorical extension based on the similarity in shape between the fish and the sole of the foot. Sole ‘only’ [14] comes via Old French soul (ancestor of modern French seul ‘only, sole’) from Latin sōlus ‘alone, single’.
The origins of this are uncertain, but it may be related to the pronoun sē ‘oneself’, in which case it could mean etymologically ‘by oneself’. Its other contributions to English include desolate [14], soliloquy [17], solitary [14], solo [17] (via Italian), and sullen. => sill; desolate, solitary, solo, sullen
sole (n.1)
"bottom of the foot" ("technically, the planta, corresponding to the palm of the hand," Century Dictionary), early 14c., from Old French sole, from Vulgar Latin *sola, from Latin solea "sandal, bottom of a shoe; a flatfish," from solum "bottom, ground, foundation, lowest point of a thing" (hence "sole of the foot"), a word of uncertain origin. In English, the meaning "bottom of a shoe or boot" is from late 14c.
sole (adj.)
"single, alone, having no husband or wife; one and only, singular, unique," late 14c., from Old French soul "only, alone, just," from Latin solus "alone, only, single, sole; forsaken; extraordinary," of unknown origin, perhaps related to se "oneself," from PIE reflexive root *swo- (see so).
sole (n.2)
common European flatfish, mid-13c., from Old French sole, from Latin solea "a kind of flatfish," originally "sandal" (see sole (n.1)); so called from resemblance of the fish to a flat shoe.
sole (v.)
"furnish (a shoe) with a sole," 1560s, from sole (n.1). Related: Soled; soling.
雙語例句
1. I wear my old shoes every day. One sole has come unglued.
我每天都穿那雙舊鞋，有一只鞋底已經脫膠了。
來自柯林斯例句
2. The current sole superpower is far from being a disinterested observer.
當前唯一的超級大國遠不是一個公正的旁觀者。
來自柯林斯例句
3. Rafferty was the sole survivor from the successful Ireland team of 1988.
拉弗蒂是1988年紅極一時的愛爾蘭隊碩果僅存的球員。
來自柯林斯例句
4. The plaintiff's sole witness, a gambler and layabout, was easily discredited.
原告唯一的證人嗜賭成性，游手好閑，其證詞一下子就被推翻了。
來自柯林斯例句
5. He was the sole proprietor with total management control.