soul

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Related to soul: soul mate, soul music, spirit

soul

spirit, heart, essence, core

Not to be confused with:

sol – music: the fifth tone of a diatonic scale; a Peruvian coin

Sol – ancient Roman god personifying the sun

sole – only, unique; the undersurface of a foot or shoe; a flatfish

soul

(sōl)

a. A part of humans regarded as immaterial, immortal, separable from the body at death, capable of moral judgment, and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state.

b. This part of a human when disembodied after death.

2. In Aristotelian philosophy, an animating or vital principle inherent in living things and endowing them in various degrees with the potential to grow and reproduce, to move and respond to stimuli (as in the case of animals), and to think rationally (as in the case of humans).

a. A human: "the homes of some nine hundred souls" (Garrison Keillor).

b. A person considered as the embodiment of an intangible quality; a personification: I am the very soul of discretion.

c. A person's emotional or moral nature: "An actor is ... often a soul which wishes to reveal itself to the world but dare not" (Alec Guinness).

4. The central or integral part; the vital core: "It saddens me that this network ... may lose its soul, which is after all the quest for news" (Marvin Kalb).

5. A sense of emotional strength or spiritual vitality held to derive from black and especially African-American cultural experience, expressed in areas such as language, social customs, religion, and music.

6. Strong, deeply felt emotion conveyed by a speaker, performer, or artist: a performance that had a lot of soul.

7. Soul music.

[Middle English, from Old English sāwol.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

soul

(səʊl)

1. (Theology) the spirit or immaterial part of man, the seat of human personality, intellect, will, and emotions, regarded as an entity that survives the body after death.

2. (Theology) Christianity the spiritual part of a person, capable of redemption from the power of sin through divine grace

3. the essential part or fundamental nature of anything

4. a person's feelings or moral nature as distinct from other faculties

5. (Jazz)

a. Also called: soul music a type of Black music resulting from the addition of jazz, gospel, and pop elements to the urban blues style

b. (as modifier): a soul singer.

6. (Peoples) (modifier) of or relating to Black Americans and their culture: soul brother; soul food.

7. nobility of spirit or temperament: a man of great soul and courage.

8. an inspiring spirit or leading figure, as of a cause or movement

9. a person regarded as typifying some characteristic or quality: the soul of discretion.

10. a person; individual: an honest soul.

11. the life and soul See life²⁸

12. upon my soul! an exclamation of surprise

[Old English sāwol; related to Old Frisian sēle, Old Saxon sēola, Old High German sēula soul]

ˈsoul-ˌlike adj

Soul

(səʊl)

(Theology) Christian Science another word for God

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

soul

(soʊl)

n.

1. the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical.

2. the spiritual part of humans regarded in its moral aspect, or as believed to survive death and be subject to happiness or misery in a life to come.

3. the disembodied spirit of a deceased person.

4. the seat of human feelings or sentiments.

5. a person: brave souls.

6. spirit or courage.

7. the essential element or part of something.

8. the embodiment of some quality: He was the very soul of tact.

9. (cap.) (in Christian Science) God.

10. (among black Americans) shared ethnic awareness and pride.

11. deeply felt emotion, as conveyed by a performer or artist.

12. soul music.

adj.

13. of or pertaining to black Americans or their culture.

[before 900; Old English sāwl, sāwol, c. Old High German sē(u)la]

Soul

creationism Theology.

a doctrine that God creates a new soul for every human being bon. Cf. metempsychosis. — creationist, n. — creationistic, adj.

infusionism

the doctrine or belief that the soul enters the body by divine infu-sion at conception or birth.

metempsychosis

1. the passage of a soul from one body to another.
2. the rebirth of the soul at death in another body, either human or animal. Cf. creationism. — metempsychic, metempsychosic, metempsychosical, adj.

monopsychism

the theory that all souls are actually a single unity. — mono-psychic, monopsychical, adj.

nullibism

the denial that the soul exists. — nullibist, n.

panpsychism

Philosophy. the doctrine that each object in the universe has either a mind or an unconscious soul. — panpsychist, n. — panpsychistic, adj.

polypsychism

the belief that one person may have many souls or modes of intelligence. — polypsychic, polypsychical, adj.

psychagogy

the guiding of a soul, especially that of a person recently dead into the lower world. — psychagogue, n. — psychagogic, adj.

psychomachy

Obsolete, a conflict or battle between the soul and the body.

psychorrhagy

the manifestation of a person’s soul to another, usually at some distance from the body. — psychorrhagic, adj.

theopsychism

the belief that the soul has a divine nature.

traducianism

Theology. the doctrine that a new human soul is generated from the souls of the parents at the moment of conception. — traducianist, n. — traducianistic, adj.

transmigrationism

any of various theories of metempsychosis or reincarna-tion, as the Hindu doctrines of Karma.

Soul

Feel my soul rolling as if it were inside an empty barrel —Yehuda Amichai
The human soul is like a bird that is born in a cage. Nothing can deprive it of its natural longings or obliterate the mysterious remembrance of its heritage —Epes Sargent
The inner chambers of the soul are like the photographer’s darkroom. Like a laboratory. One cannot stay there all the time or it becomes the solitary cell of the neurotic —Anaïs Nin
I thought that the soul went round like a Gladstone bag, never caring a damn for any particular station-rack or hotel cloakroom —Dylan Thomas
My soul is like a desert and the wind blows in its silent barren spaces —W. Somerset Maugham
My soul is like the oar that momentarily dies in a desperate stress beneath the wave, then glitters out again and sweeps the sea —Sidney Lanier
Some souls are like sponges. You cannot squeeze anything out of them except what they have sucked from you —Kahlil Gibran
Soul … as disheveled as your apartment —Jay Mclnerney
A soul as white as heaven —Beaumont and Fletcher
The soul dwells in the body like a spider in its web —Anon Greek philosopher
A variation from the same source: “The soul resides in the body like a sailor in a ship.”
Soulless as apes. Spineless as mosquitoes or dandelions —Rick Borsten
The soul, like fire, abhors what it consumes —Derek Walcott
The soul of man is larger than the sky —Hartley Coleridge
A soul that, like an ample shield, can take in all, and verge enough for more —John Dryden
A soul through which the morning shines as through a leaf —Rainer Maria Rilke
Strong souls live like fire-hearted suns, to spend their strength in further striving action —George Eliot
The sweetest souls, like the sweetest flowers, soon canker in cities —Walter Savage Landor
Your soul was like a star, and dwelt apart —William Wordsworth
In Wordsworth’s sonnet the first word was ‘Thy.’
(Even if you’re racked by troubles, and sick and poor and ugly,) you’ve got your soul to carry through life like a treasure on a platter —Alice Munro

soul

A commercialized form of R&B that became popular in the 1960s and 1970s. A large range of musical styles are categorized under soul.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	soul - the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life psyche ghost - the visible disembodied soul of a dead person spirit - the vital principle or animating force within living things
	2.	soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone organism, being - a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently causal agency, causal agent, cause - any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results personality - the complex of all the attributes--behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental--that characterize a unique individual; "their different reactions reflected their very different personalities"; "it is his nature to help others" chassis, bod, human body, material body, physical body, physique, build, anatomy, figure, flesh, frame, shape, soma, form - alternative names for the body of a human being; "Leonardo studied the human body"; "he has a strong physique"; "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" people - (plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively; "old people"; "there were at least 200 people in the audience" self - a person considered as a unique individual; "one's own self" adult, grownup - a fully developed person from maturity onward adventurer, venturer - a person who enjoys taking risks unusual person, anomaly - a person who is unusual applicant, applier - a person who requests or seeks something such as assistance or employment or admission appointee, appointment - a person who is appointed to a job or position capitalist - a person who invests capital in a business (especially a large business) captor, capturer - a person who captures and holds people or animals changer, modifier - a person who changes something; "an inveterate changer of the menu" color-blind person - a person unable to distinguish differences in hue common man, common person, commoner - a person who holds no title communicator - a person who communicates with others contestant - a person who participates in competitions coward - a person who shows fear or timidity creator - a person who grows or makes or invents things controversialist, disputant, eristic - a person who disputes; who is good at or enjoys controversy applied scientist, engineer, technologist - a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems entertainer - a person who tries to please or amuse experimenter - a person who enjoys testing innovative ideas; "she was an experimenter in new forms of poetry" expert - a person with special knowledge or ability who performs skillfully face - a part of a person that is used to refer to a person; "he looked out at a roomful of faces"; "when he returned to work he met many new faces" female person, female - a person who belongs to the sex that can have babies individualist - a person who pursues independent thought or action denizen, dweller, habitant, inhabitant, indweller - a person who inhabits a particular place aborigine, indigen, indigene, native, aboriginal - an indigenous person who was born in a particular place; "the art of the natives of the northwest coast"; "the Canadian government scrapped plans to tax the grants to aboriginal college students" native - a person born in a particular place or country; "he is a native of Brazil" inexperienced person, innocent - a person who lacks knowledge of evil intellectual, intellect - a person who uses the mind creatively juvenile, juvenile person - a young person, not fully developed lover - a person who loves someone or is loved by someone loved one - a person who you love, usually a member of your family leader - a person who rules or guides or inspires others male person, male - a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies money dealer, money handler - a person who receives or invests or pays out money national, subject - a person who owes allegiance to that nation; "a monarch has a duty to his subjects" nonreligious person - a person who does not manifest devotion to a deity nonworker - a person who does nothing compeer, equal, peer, match - a person who is of equal standing with another in a group beholder, observer, perceiver, percipient - a person who becomes aware (of things or events) through the senses
	3.	soul - deep feeling or emotion soulfulness feeling - the experiencing of affective and emotional states; "she had a feeling of euphoria"; "he had terrible feelings of guilt"; "I disliked him and the feeling was mutual"
	4.	soul - the human embodiment of something; "the soul of honor" embodiment - giving concrete form to an abstract concept
	5.	soul - a secular form of gospel that was a major Black musical genre in the 1960s and 1970s; "soul was politically significant during the Civil Rights movement" African-American music, black music - music created by African-American musicians; early forms were songs that had a melodic line and a strong rhythmic beat with repeated choruses gospel singing, gospel - folk music consisting of a genre of a cappella music originating with Black slaves in the United States and featuring call and response; influential on the development of other genres of popular music (especially soul)

soul

noun

1. spirit, essence, psyche, life, mind, reason, intellect, vital force, animating principle Such memories stirred in his soul.

2. embodiment, essence, incarnation, epitome, personification, quintessence, type With such celebrated clients, she necessarily remains the soul of discretion.

3. person, being, human, individual, body, creature, mortal, man or woman a tiny village of only 100 souls

4. feeling, force, energy, vitality, animation, fervour, ardour, vivacity an ice goddess without soul

Related words
adjective pneumatic

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

soul

noun

1. The vital principle or animating force within living beings:

breath, divine spark, élan vital, life force, psyche, spirit, vital force, vitality.

2. The essential being of a person, regarded as immaterial and immortal:

spirit.

3. A member of the human race:

being, body, creature, homo, human, human being, individual, life, man, mortal, party, person, personage.

4. The most central and material part:

core, essence, gist, heart, kernel, marrow, meat, nub, pith, quintessence, root, spirit, stuff, substance.

Law: gravamen.

5. The seat of a person's innermost emotions and feelings:

bosom, breast, heart.

Idioms: bottom of one's heart, cockles of one's heart, one's heart of hearts.

Translations

روحشَخْصمُنَظِّم، قائِدموسيقى روحانِيَّهنَفْس

dušesoulčlověk

sjælsoulmusikmenneske

Seele Soul

ψυχή

animo

alma espíritu persona

sielusoulhenki

âme soul

duša

léleklelke

sálsála, mannverasól-tónlistdriffjöîur

anima incarnazione persona

魂

영혼

anima

bodusdvasingoji muzikailgesingaisiela

dvēselegarspersonasoula mūzikabūtne

zielsoul

primus motor sjel soulmusikk svart musikk

duszasoulżycie

alma espírito

muzică soulsingurspiritsufletunic

душа соул

dušasoul

duša

själsoul

วิญญาณ

ruhzenci müziğikişi lider

душа

linh hồn

灵魂领导人人灵乐

soul

[səʊl]

A. N

1. (Rel) → alma f
with all one's soul → con todo el alma
All Souls' Day → (el día de) Todos los Santos
(God) bless my soul! (o.f.) → ¡que Dios me ampare!
God rest his soul → que Dios lo acoja en su seno
upon my soul! (o.f.) → ¡cielo santo!
like a lost soul → como alma en pena
to sell one's soul to the devil → vender el alma al diablo
see also possess 1

2. (= feeling) you have no soul! → ¡no tienes sentimientos!
the music lacks soul → a la música le falta sentimiento
these places have no soul → estos sitios no tienen vida

3. (= essence) [of people, nation] → espíritu m
see also bare B
see also body A1
see also heart A2
see also life A5

4. (fig) (= person) → alma f
3,000 souls → 3.000 almas
there was not a (living) soul in sight → no se veía (ni) un alma
a few brave souls ventured out → unos cuantos valientes se aventuraron a salir
the poor soul had nowhere to sleep → el pobre no tenía dónde dormir
poor soul! → ¡pobrecito!
I won't tell a soul → no se lo diré a nadie

5. (= embodiment) to be the soul of discretion → ser la discreción personificada or en persona
see also brevity

6. (Mus) (also soul music) → música f soul

B. CPD soul food N cocina negra del Sur de EE.UU.
soul music N → música f soul
soul singer N → cantante mf de soul

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

soul

[ˈsəʊl]

(= spirit) → âme f

(= person) → âme f
She was a kind and generous soul.; He's a jolly soul
BUT C'est un joyeux luron.
I didn't see a soul → je n'ai pas vu âme qui vive
the poor soul → le pauvre
The poor soul had nowhere to sleep → Le pauvre n'avait nulle part où dormir.

(also soul music) → soul f

modif (MUSIC) [band, singer, record] → de soulsoul-destroying [ˈsəʊldɪˈstrɔɪɪŋ] adj [job, experience] → démoralisant(e)soul food (mainly US) n cuisine traditionnelle du sud des États Unis.

soul

→ Seele f; upon my soul! (dated) (God) bless my soul! → meiner Treu (dated), → na so was!; All Souls’ Day → Allerheiligen nt; God rest his soul! → Gott hab ihn selig! ? body a

(= inner being) → Innerste(s), Wesen nt; he may not be a brilliant intellect, but he has a beautiful soul → er ist vielleicht kein großer Geist, aber er hat innere Werte; he loved her with all his soul → er liebte sie von ganzem Herzen; he loved her with all his heart and with all his soul → er liebte sie mit jeder Faser seines Herzens; the priest urged them to search their souls → der Priester drängte sie, ihr Gewissen zu erforschen; a little humility is good for the soul → ein bisschen Bescheidenheit tut der Seele gut; the soul of the city has been destroyed by modernization → durch die Modernisierung ist die Stadt in ihrem innersten Wesen zerstört worden; to have a soul above something → über etw (acc) → hoch erhaben sein; the music lacks soul → der Musik fehlt echter Ausdruck; poetry is the soul of civilization → die Dichtkunst ist die Seele der Zivilisation

(= finer feelings) → Herz nt, → Gefühl nt; complete lack of soul → vollkommene Gefühllosigkeit; a musician of considerable technical skill, but lacking soul → ein Musiker von beachtlichem technischem Können, aber ohne echtes Gefühl; you’ve got to have soul (US sl) → du musst Feeling haben (inf); soul brother → Bruder m; soul sister → Schwester f; he’s a soul brother → er ist einer von uns

(= person) → Seele f; 3,000 souls → 3.000 Seelen (geh); poor soul! (inf) → Ärmste(r)!; how is she, the wee soul? → wie gehts denn unsrer Kleinen?; he’s a good soul → er ist ein guter Mensch; she’s a kind or kindly soul → sie ist eine gute Seele; she’s a simple soul → sie hat ein schlichtes Gemüt; not a soul → keine Menschenseele; there wasn’t a living soul about → keine Menschenseele war zu sehen; the ship was lost with all souls → das Schiff ging mit (der ganzen Besatzung und) allen Passagieren unter

he’s the soul of generosity/discretion → er ist die Großzügigkeit/Diskretion in Person

(Mus) → Soul m

soul

soul mate

n → Seelenfreund(in) m(f)

soul music

n → Soul m, → Soulmusik f

soul-searching

n → Gewissensprüfung f

soul-stirring

adj speech, music → bewegend

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

soul

[səʊl] n

a. → anima
with all one's soul → con tutta l'anima
All Souls' Day → il giorno dei morti
God rest his soul → pace all'anima sua
he's the soul of discretion → è la discrezione in persona

b. (person) → anima
the ship sank with all souls → la nave affondò con tutti a bordo
I didn't see a soul → non ho visto anima viva
the poor soul had nowhere to sleep → il poveraccio non aveva dove dormire

c. (also soul music) → soul m

soul

(səul) noun

1. the spirit; the non-physical part of a person, which is often thought to continue in existence after he or she dies. People often discuss whether animals and plants have souls.

2. a person. She's a wonderful old soul.

3. (of an enterprise etc) the organizer or leader. He is the soul of the whole movement.

4. soul music.

ˈsoulful adjective

full of (usually sad, wistful etc) feeling. a soulful expression.

ˈsoulfully adverb

ˈsoulless adjective

1. (of a person) without fine feeling or nobleness.

2. (of life, a task etc) dull or very unimportant.

ˈsoul-destroying adjective

(of a task etc) very dull, boring, repetitive etc.

soul music (also soul)

a type of music, descended from American Negro gospel songs, which has great emotion.

soul

→ نَفْس duše sjæl Seele ψυχή alma sielu âme duša anima 魂 영혼 ziel sjel dusza alma душа själ วิญญาณ ruh linh hồn 灵魂

soul

n. alma, espíritu.

soul

n alma

References in classic literature ?

Every living thing in the first place is composed of soul and body, of these the one is by nature the governor, the other the governed; now if we would know what is natural, we ought to search for it in those subjects in which nature appears most perfect, and not in those which are corrupted; we should therefore examine into a man who is most perfectly formed both in soul and body, in whom this is evident, for in the depraved and vicious the body seems [1254b] to rule rather than the soul, on account of their being corrupt and contrary to nature.

View in context

Would you not say that there was something in the soul bidding a man to drink, and something else forbidding him, which is other and stronger than the principle which bids him?

View in context

Every promise of the soul has innumerable fulfilments; each of its joys ripens into a new want.

View in context

O, Faustus, lay that damned book aside, And gaze not on it, lest it tempt thy soul, And heap God's heavy wrath upon thy head!

View in context

"Either fact were enough to make them repulsive," replied the girl, "but it is the fact that they were without souls that made them totally impossible--one easily overlooks physical deformity, but the moral depravity that must be inherent in a creature without a soul must forever cut him off from intercourse with human beings."

View in context

The poor mulatto woman, whose simple faith had been well-nigh crushed and overwhelmed, by the avalanche of cruelty and wrong which had fallen upon her, felt her soul raised up by the hymns and passages of Holy Writ, which this lowly missionary breathed into her ear in intervals, as they were going to and returning from work; and even the half-crazed and wandering mind of Cassy was soothed and calmed by his simple and unobtrusive influences.

View in context

This may seem like a ponderous weight of wisdom to descend upon the soul of a young woman of twenty-eight--perhaps more wisdom than the Holy Ghost is usually pleased to vouchsafe to any woman.

View in context

Black on thy back is thy triangle and symbol; and I know also what is in thy soul.

View in context

"It is," said my soul, as I turned and walked past her again; "you missed her once, are you going to miss her again?"

View in context

Browning's chosen subject-matter: "Every man is for him an epitome of the universe, a centre of creation." It is always the particular soul, and the particular act or episode, as the flower of the particular soul--the act or episode by which its quality comes to the test--in which he interests us.

View in context

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, "Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you " -- here I opened wide the door; Darkness there and nothing more.

View in context

I was carried away by your reasoning; it extinguished all the harsh feelings that had risen up against you in my soul. I had been so proud of your truth!