Sol or soul?
sol is a noun meaning “In a movable-do or tonic sol-fa system: the fifth step in a scale, preceded by…”; soul is a noun meaning “The spirit or essence of a person usually thought to consist of one's thoughts…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) soul is about 13 times as common as sol.
What is the difference between sol and soul?
| sol | soul | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, adjective, suffix | noun, adjective, verb |
| Meaning | In a movable-do or tonic sol-fa system: the fifth step in a scale, preceded by fa and followed by la In a fixed-do system: the musical note G An old coin from France and some other countries worth 12 deniers | The spirit or essence of a person usually thought to consist of one's thoughts and personality, often believed to live on after the person's death The spirit or essence of anything Characteristic of or pertaining to African American culture |
| Example | none recorded | 18 January 1915, D. H. Lawrence, letter to William Hopkin I want to gather together about twenty souls and sail away from this world of war… |
| Forms | sols sols, soles | souls |
| Pronunciation | /sɒl/ /səʊl/ /sɔl/ | /səʊl/ [sɔʊɫ] [sɒʊɫ] |
| In writing | 4.9 times per million words | 65 times per million words |
Sources: sol and soul in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of sol and soul
sol
- 1
In a movable-do or tonic sol-fa system: the fifth step in a scale, preceded by fa and followed by la
- 2
An old coin from France and some other countries worth 12 deniers
- 3
A former Spanish-American silver coin
- 4
A solar day on the planet Mars (equivalent to 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds)
- 5
A type of colloid in which a solid is dispersed in a liquid
- 6
informalClipping of solidarity
- 7
Initialism of statute of limitations
- 8
Initialism of shit out of luck
soul
- 1
The spirit or essence of a person usually thought to consist of one's thoughts and personality, often believed to live on after the person's death
- 2
Characteristic of or pertaining to African American culture
soul music
- 3
To beg on All Soul's Day
- 4
The spirit or essence of anything
- 5
Life, energy, vigor
- 6
Cultural consciousness and pride among people of African American heritage
- 7
A strong positive feeling of intense sensitivity and emotional fervor conveyed especially by African American performers
- 8
Soul music
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, sol or soul?
sol appears 4.9 times per million words; soul 65 times per million words.
sol 4.9 times per million wordssoul 65 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).