sole
/səʊl/
"sole" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sole” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,411. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #4,411
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Only.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sole · sole · English
sole · rank #4,411 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #4,411
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH se
Nearest frequency peer: se (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “sole”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- ruling
ruling
95,593 corpus weight
- sacrifice
sacrifice
95,592 corpus weight
- se
se
95,591 corpus weight
- sole
sole
95,590 corpus weight
- stopping
stopping
95,589 corpus weight
- strategies
strategies
95,588 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “sole” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sole |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /səʊl/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #4,411 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sole” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around sole (IPA /səʊl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #4,411 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for sole, with forms such as "osle", "sloe", and "soel". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "son", "sue", "sox", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sole, soule, from Old French sol, soul (“alone”), from Latin sōlus (“alone, single, solitary, lonely”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun). Perhaps related to Old Latin sollus (“whole, complete”), from Proto-Ind… The correct English form is sole, spelled S-O-L-E.
Definition
- 1Only.
- 2Unmarried (especially of a woman); widowed.
- 3Unique; unsurpassed.
- 4With independent power; unfettered.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sole appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He saw now clearly that the sole crew of the vessel was these two dead men, and though he could not see their faces, he saw by their outstretched hands, which were all of ragged flesh, that they had been subjected to some strange exceptional process of decay.
The sole brilliance of this gem.
Etymology
From Middle English sole, soule, from Old French sol, soul (“alone”), from Latin sōlus (“alone, single, solitary, lonely”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun). Perhaps related to Old Latin sollus (“whole, complete”), from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“safe, healthy”). More at save.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- osle
- sloe
- soel
- solle
- ssole
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sole - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What does "sole" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sole", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.