Standard Lemma guide

sowl

noun · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /saʊl/
  • /ˈsaʊəl/
  • dialectal: /suːl/
  • rhymes with -aʊl
  • rhymes with -aʊəl
  • Received-Pronunciation: /səʊl/
  • General-American: sōl
  • General-American: /soʊl/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊl
  • homophone: Seoul
  • homophone: sole
  • homophone: soul

1

noun

Meaning 1

A dainty; a relish; a sauce; anything eaten with bread.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Archaic spelling of soul.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To pull (especially an animal) by the ears; to drag about.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To soil or stain; to dirty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sullow, sully, assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befile, befilth, befoul, begrime, beray, beshit, besmear, besmirch, besully, bewray, blacken, blot, blur, clat, contaminate, darken, defile, dirten, dirty, elt, file, foil, foul, gunk, gunk up, inquinate, scunge, sling mud, slotter, slur, smear, smirch, smudge, smut, smutch, soil, soss, sowl, spot, stain, tarnish, uggle

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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”).

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

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

From Middle English sōlen (“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.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Swedish: sovel — dainty; relish; sauce; anything eaten with bread