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Antonyms for soul


Grammar : Noun
Spell : sohl
Phonetic Transcription : soʊl



Definition of soul

Origin :
  • "A substantial entity believed to be that in each person which lives, feels, thinks and wills" [Century Dictionary], Old English sawol "spiritual and emotional part of a person, animate existence; life, living being," from Proto-Germanic *saiwalo (cf. Old Saxon seola, Old Norse sala, Old Frisian sele, Middle Dutch siele, Dutch ziel, Old High German seula, German Seele, Gothic saiwala), of uncertain origin.
  • Sometimes said to mean originally "coming from or belonging to the sea," because that was supposed to be the stopping place of the soul before birth or after death [Barnhart]; if so, it would be from Proto-Germanic *saiwaz (see sea). Klein explains this as "from the lake," as a dwelling-place of souls in ancient northern Europe.
  • Meaning "spirit of a deceased person" is attested in Old English from 971. As a synonym for "person, individual, human being" (e.g. every living soul) it dates from early 14c. Soul-searching (n.) is attested from 1871, from the phrase used as a past participle adjective (1610s). Distinguishing soul from spirit is a matter best left to theologians.
  • noun psyche, inspiration, energy
  • noun being
Example sentences :
  • I have never seen the soul withdrawn without a struggle with the body.
  • Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child
  • All pursuits that serve to connect the soul with the world whence it came are rejected.
  • Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child
  • Then I heard a voice, saying, 'Lo, the soul seeketh to ascend!'
  • Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child
  • When the soul was again led into the body, it related all that had happened to it.
  • Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child
  • The good bishop believed she had jeopardised her soul with divorce.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • He has the soul of a merchant tailor, actually, but not the tailor's manhood.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • But he was a generous man and all meanness of spirit was foreign to his soul.
  • Extract from : « Ancient Man » by Hendrik Willem van Loon
  • The land of Phoenicia had always been a counting-house without a soul.
  • Extract from : « Ancient Man » by Hendrik Willem van Loon
  • Everybody was drawn to her, yet not a soul took any comfort in her.
  • Extract from : « Malbone » by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
  • Falling from the lips of others, they dropped with conviction into my own soul.
  • Extract from : « Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327 » by Various

Synonyms for soul

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019