Where does “soul” come from?
Soul comes from French souler, Old French sol, Latin solidus meaning "solid" or "whole," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European seh₂- meaning "to sow" or "bind together."
soul (English): The spirit or essence of a person usually thought...
Definitions
- The spirit or essence of a person usually thought...
Ancestry of “soul”, step by step
soul traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English soule
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | soule | A soul or spirit; an animating force |
| 2 | Middle English | sowel | Food, especially that served with bread as a side or condiment; sowl |
| 3 | Old English | sufel | anything eaten with bread, e.g. meat, vegetables,... |
| 4 | English | soufflé | A baked dish made from beaten egg whites and... |
| 5 | French | soufflé | soufflé; past participle of souffler |
| 6 | French | souffler | to blow; to blow out; to whisper |
| 7 | Old French | sofler | — |
| 8 | Latin | sufflō | to blow, puff up, inflate |
| 9 | Latin | flō | to breathe, blow |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | flāō | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₁- | to bleat; to cry; to blow |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰel- | to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to... |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰōl- | — |