Join free

sowl

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

sowl¹

  • /saʊl/
  • /ˈsaʊəl/
  • /suːl/ dialectal

Rhymes with -aʊl, -aʊəl

Where it comes from

From Middle English sowel, souel, suvel (“food eaten with bread; food in general”), from Old English sufel, sufol (“anything (especially relish) eaten with bread; sowl”), from Proto-West Germanic *sufl, from Proto-Germanic *suflą (“entremets, viands”), from Proto-Indo-European *seu-, *sew- (“juice; moisture; rain”). The word is cognate with Danish sul (“sowl”), Middle Dutch suvel, zuvel (Dutch zuivel (“dairy products”)), Middle Low German suvel, süvel, suffel (“sowl”), Old High German sufil, sufili, Old Norse sufl, Norwegian suvl, sovl, sul (“milk porridge; food eaten with bread, porridge or soup”), Saterland Frisian süfel (“dairy products”), Swedish sovel (“sowl”), West Frisian suvel (“dairy products”).

noun sowls · seawl · sewl · sool · soul · soule

  1. UK, dialectal A dainty; a relish; a sauce; anything eaten with bread. Good lorjus days, whot whofo times ar' theese! / Pot-baws ar scant, an dear is seawl an cheese!

sowl²

Where it comes from

From Middle English soul, soule, sowel, sawel (“soul”). See further at soul.

noun sowls

  1. archaic Archaic spelling of soul [W]here in tyme past wthin the p[ar]ish chirch of new Wyndesor hath ben kept yerely on Trinite Sunday an obitt wᵗʰ mass of requiem on the moro next followᵍ for the Sowles of all the Brethren and sisters of the Trinite brotherhood there, wᶜʰ tyme out of mynde hath bene usyd, the said Andrew for th' i

sowl³

  • /səʊl/ UK
  • /soʊl/ US

Sounds like Seoul, sole, soul · Rhymes with -əʊl

Where it comes from

Origin unknown; compare German zaulen, zauseln, zausen (“to tug, drag”). See also tousle.

verb sowls · sowling · sowled

  1. transitive To pull (especially an animal) by the ears; to drag about. Hee'l go he ſayes, and ſole the Porter of Rome Gates by th'ears. He will mowe all downe before him, and leaue his paſſage poul'd.

sowl⁴

  • /səʊl/ UK
  • /soʊl/ US

Sounds like Seoul, sole, soul · Rhymes with -əʊl

Where it comes from

From Middle English solen (“to become dirty or soiled; to make dirty, soil; to be defiled, polluted”), from Old English solian (“to make or become foul, sully”), from Proto-Germanic *sulwōną, *sulwijaną; compare sullow and sully, and Danish søle (“to make dirty, defile”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bisauljan, “to bemire”), Middle Dutch soluwen, seulewen (“to besmirch, soil”), Old French soillier, souillier, soller (“to dirty, stain; to tarnish (a reputation, etc.)”) (modern French souiller), Old High German solagōn, bisullen (“to make dirty”), German suhlen (“to make dirty, soil”), Old Saxon sulian (“to mire, soil”), West Flemish sowelen, suwelen.

verb sowls · sowling · sowled

  1. obsolete To soil or stain; to dirty.

    Similar: sullow, sully, assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befile, befilth, befoul, begrime

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"sowl." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sowl. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

sowl. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sowl

Chicago

"sowl." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sowl.

BibTeX
@misc{sowl_2026,
  title = {sowl},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sowl},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}