sole

adj

Etymology: 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.

1. Only.

   “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.”

2. Unmarried (especially of a woman); widowed.
3. Unique; unsurpassed.

   “The sole brilliance of this gem.”

4. With independent power; unfettered.

   “A sole authority.”

name

1. A sea area, corresponding to the Sole Bank, to the north of FitzRoy

noun

Etymology: From Middle English sol, from Old English sol (“mire, miry place”), from Proto-Germanic *sulą (“mire, wallow, mud”), from Proto-Indo-European *sūl- (“thick liquid”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian soal (“ditch”), Dutch sol (“water and mud filled pit”), German Suhle (“mire, wallow”), Norwegian saula, søyla (“mud puddle”). More at soil.

1. A pond or pool; a dirty pond of standing water.

verb

Etymology: From earlier sowle (“to pull by the ear”). Origin unknown. Perhaps from sow (“female pig”) + -le, as in the phrase "take a sow by the wrong ear", or from Middle English sole (“rope”). See above.

1. To pull by the ears; to pull about; haul; lug.