Adjacent Words

Soul definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SOUL, n.
1. The spiritual, rational and immortal substance in man, which distinguishes him from brutes; that part of man which enables him to think and reason, and which renders him a subject of moral government. The immortality of the soul is a fundamental article of the christian system. Such is the nature of the human soul that it must have a God, an object of supreme affection.
2. The understanding; the intellectual principle. The eyes of our soul then only begin to see, when our bodily eye are closing.
3. Vital principle. Thou son, of this great world both eye and soul.
4. Spirit; essence; chief part; as charity, the soul of all the virtues. Emotion is the soul of eloquence.
5. Life; animation principle or part; as, an able commander is the soul of an army.
6. Internal power. There is some soul of goodness in things evil.
7. A human being; a person. There was no a soul present. In Paris there are more than seven hundred thousand souls. London, Westminster, Southwark and the suburbs, are said to contain twelve hundred thousand souls.
8. Animal life. To deliver their soil from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Psa
33:7.
9. Active power. And heaven would fly before the driving soul.
10. Spirit; courage; fire; grandeur of mind. That he wants caution he must needs confess, but not a soul to give our arms success.
11. Generosity; nobleness of mind; a colloquial use.
12. An intelligent being. Every soul in heav'n shall bend the knee.
13. Heart; affection. The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David. I Sam. 18.
14. In Scripture, appetite; as the full soul; the hungry soul. Proverbs 27. Job 33.
15. A familiar compellation of a person, but often expressing some qualities of the mind; as alas, poor soul; he was a good soul.
SOUL, v.t. To endure with a soul. [Not in use.]
SOUL, SOWL, v.i. To afford suitable sustenance. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life [syn: soul, psyche]
2: a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" [syn: person, individual, someone, somebody, mortal, soul]
3: deep feeling or emotion [syn: soul, soulfulness]
4: the human embodiment of something; "the soul of honor"
5: 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"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English soule, from Old English s?wol; akin to Old High German s?ula soul Date: before 12th century 1. the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life 2. a. the spiritual principle embodied in human beings, all rational and spiritual beings, or the universe b. capitalized, Christian Science god 1b 3. a person's total self 4. a. an active or essential part b. a moving spirit ; leader 5. a. the moral and emotional nature of human beings b. the quality that arouses emotion and sentiment c. spiritual or moral force ; fervor 6. person <not a soul in sight> 7. personification <she is the soul of integrity> 8. a. a strong positive feeling (as of intense sensitivity and emotional fervor) conveyed especially by black American performers b. negritude c. soul music d. soul food e. soul brother II. adjective Date: 1958 1. of, relating to, or characteristic of black Americans or their culture 2. designed for or controlled by blacks <soul radio stations>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being, often regarded as immortal. 2 the moral or emotional or intellectual nature of a person or animal. 3 the personification or pattern of something (the very soul of discretion). 4 an individual (not a soul in sight). 5 a a person regarded with familiarity or pity etc. (the poor soul was utterly confused). b a person regarded as embodying moral or intellectual qualities (left that to meaner souls). 6 a person regarded as the animating or essential part of something (the life and soul of the party). 7 emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, esp. as revealed in a work of art (pictures that lack soul). 8 Black American culture or music etc. Phrases and idioms: soul-destroying (of an activity etc.) deadeningly monotonous. soul food the traditional food of American Blacks. soul mate a person ideally suited to another. soul music a kind of music incorporating elements of rhythm and blues and gospel music, popularized by American Blacks. the soul of honour a person incapable of dishonourable conduct. soul-searching n. the examination of one's emotions and motives. --adj. characterized by this. upon my soul an exclamation of surprise. Derivatives: -souled adj. (in comb.). Etymology: OE sawol, sawel, sawl, f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soul Soul, a. Sole. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soul Soul, a. Sole. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soul Soul, v. i. [F. so[^u]ler to satiate. See Soil to feed.] To afford suitable sustenance. [Obs.] --Warner.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soul Soul, n. [OE. soule, saule, AS. s[=a]wel, s[=a]wl; akin to OFries. s?le, OS. s?ola, D. ziel, G. seele, OHG. s?la, s?ula, Icel. s[=a]la, Sw. sj["a]l, Dan. si[ae]l, Goth. saiwala; of uncertain origin, perhaps akin to L. saeculum a lifetime, age (cf. Secular.)] 1. The spiritual, rational, and immortal part in man; that part of man which enables him to think, and which renders him a subject of moral government; -- sometimes, in distinction from the higher nature, or spirit, of man, the so-called animal soul, that is, the seat of life, the sensitive affections and phantasy, exclusive of the voluntary and rational powers; -- sometimes, in distinction from the mind, the moral and emotional part of man's nature, the seat of feeling, in distinction from intellect; -- sometimes, the intellect only; the understanding; the seat of knowledge, as distinguished from feeling. In a more general sense, ``an animating, separable, surviving entity, the vehicle of individual personal existence.'' --Tylor. The eyes of our souls only then begin to see, when our bodily eyes are closing. --Law. 2. The seat of real life or vitality; the source of action; the animating or essential part. ``The hidden soul of harmony.'' --Milton. Thou sun, of this great world both eye and soul. --Milton. 3. The leader; the inspirer; the moving spirit; the heart; as, the soul of an enterprise; an able general is the soul of his army. He is the very soul of bounty! --Shak. 4. Energy; courage; spirit; fervor; affection, or any other noble manifestation of the heart or moral nature; inherent power or goodness. That he wants algebra he must confess; But not a soul to give our arms success. --Young. 5. A human being; a person; -- a familiar appellation, usually with a qualifying epithet; as, poor soul. As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. --Prov. xxv. 25. God forbid so many simple souls Should perish by the aword! --Shak. Now mistress Gilpin (careful soul). --Cowper. 6. A pure or disembodied spirit. That to his only Son . . . every soul in heaven Shall bend the knee. --Milton. Note: Soul is used in the formation of numerous compounds, most of which are of obvious signification; as, soul-betraying, soul-consuming, soul-destroying, soul-distracting, soul-enfeebling, soul-exalting, soul-felt, soul-harrowing, soul-piercing, soul-quickening, soul-reviving, soul-stirring, soul-subduing, soul-withering, etc. Syn: Spirit; life; courage; fire; ardor. Cure of souls. See Cure, n., 2. Soul bell, the passing bell. --Bp. Hall. Soul foot. See Soul scot, below. [Obs.] Soul scot or Soul shot. [Soul + scot, or shot; cf. AS. s[=a]welsceat.] (O. Eccl. Law) A funeral duty paid in former times for a requiem for the soul. --Ayliffe.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soul Soul, v. t. To indue with a soul; to furnish with a soul or mind. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(souls) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Your soul is the part of you that consists of your mind, character, thoughts, and feelings. Many people believe that your soul continues existing after your body is dead. She went to pray for the soul of her late husband... 'I will put my heart and soul into the job,' he promises. N-COUNT: usu with supp 2. You can refer to someone as a particular kind of soul when you are describing their character or condition. He's a jolly soul... N-COUNT: adj N 3. You use soul in negative statements like not a soul to mean nobody at all. I've never harmed a soul in my life... There was not a soul there. N-SING: with brd-neg 4. Soul or soul music is a type of pop music performed mainly by black American musicians. It developed from gospel and blues music and often expresses deep emotions. ...American soul singer Anita Baker. 5. to bare one's soul: see bare body and soul: see body the life and soul of the party: see life

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sol (nephesh; psuche; Latin anima):

1. Shades of Meaning in the Old Testament:

(1) Soul, like spirit, has various shades of meaning in the Old Testament, which may be summarized as follows: "Soul," "living being," "life," "self," "person," "desire," "appetite," "emotion" and "passion" (BDB under the word). In the first instance it meant that which breathes, and as such is distinguished from basar, "flesh" (Isa 10:18; De 12:23); from she'er, "the inner flesh," next the bones (Pr 11:17, "his own flesh"); from beTen, "belly" (Ps 31:10, "My soul and my belly are consumed with grief"), etc.

(2) As the life-breath, it departs at death (Ge 35:18; Jer 15:2). Hence, the desire among Old Testament saints to be delivered from Sheol (Ps 16:10, "Thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol") and from shachath, "the pit" (Job 33:18, "He keepeth back his soul from the pit"; Isa 38:17, "Thou hast .... delivered it (my soul) from the pit of corruption").

(3) By an easy transition the word comes to stand for the individual, personal life, the person, with two distinct shades of meaning which might best be indicated by the Latin anima and animus. As anima, "soul," the life inherent in the body, the animating principle in the blood is denoted (compare De 12:23,24, `Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the soul; and thou shalt not eat the soul with the flesh'). As animus, "mind," the center of our mental activities and passivities is indicated. Thus we read of `a hungry soul' (Ps 107:9), `a weary soul' (Jer 31:25), `a loathing soul' (Le 26:11), `a thirsty soul' (Ps 42:2), `a grieved soul' (Job 30:25), `a loving soul' (So 1:7), and many kindred expressions. Cremer has characterized this use of the word in a sentence: "Nephesh (soul) in man is the subject of personal life, whereof pneuma or ruach (spirit) is the principle" (Lexicon, under the word, 795).

(4) This individuality of man, however, may be denoted by pneuma as well, but with a distinction. Nephesh or "soul" can only denote the individual life with a material organization or body. Pneuma or "spirit" is not so restricted. Scripture speaks of "spirits of just men made perfect" (Heb 12:23), where there can be no thought of a material or physical or corporeal organization. They are "spiritual beings freed from the assaults and defilements of the flesh" (Delitzsch, in the place cited.). For an exceptional use of psuche in the same sense see Re 6:9; 20:4, and (irrespective of the meaning of Ps 16:10) Ac 2:27.

2. New Testament Distinctions:

(1) In the New Testament psuche appears under more or less similar conditions as in the Old Testament. The contrast here is as carefully maintained as there. It is used where pneuma would be out of place; and yet it seems at times to be employed where pneuma might have been substituted. Thus in Joh 19:30 we read: "Jesus gave up his pneuma" to the Father, and, in the same Gospel (Joh 10:15), Jesus gave up His "psuche for the sheep," and in Mt 20:28 He gave His psuche (not His pneuma) as a ransom--a difference which is characteristic. For the pneuma stands in quite a different relation to God from the psuche. The "spirit" (pneuma) is the outbreathing of God into the creature, the life-principle derived from God. The "sour" (psuche) is man's individual possession, that which distinguishes one man from another and from inanimate nature. The pneuma of Christ was surrendered to the Father in death; His psuche was surrendered, His individual life was given "a ransom for many." His life "was given for the sheep"

(2) This explains those expressions in the New Testament which bear on the salvation of the soul and its preservation in the regions of the dead. "Thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades" (the world of shades) (Ac 2:27); "Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil" (Ro 2:9); "We are .... of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul" (Heb 10:39); "Receive ..... the implanted word, which is able to save your souls" (Jas 1:21).

The same or similar expressions may be met with in the Old Testament in reference to the soul. Thus in Ps 49:8, the King James Version "The redemption of their soul is precious" and again: "God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol" (Ps 49:15). Perhaps this may explain--at least this is Wendt's explanation--why even a corpse is called nephesh or soul in the Old Testament, because, in the region of the dead, the individuality is retained and, in a measure, separated from God (compare Hag 2:13; Le 21:11).

3. Oehler on Soul and Spirit:

The distinction between psuche and pneuma, or nephesh and ruach, to which reference has been made, may best be described in the words of Oehler (Old Testament Theology, I, 217): "Man is not spirit, but has it: he is soul. .... In the soul, which sprang from the spirit, and exists continually through it, lies the individuality--in the case of man, his personality, his self, his ego." He draws attention to the words of Elihu in Job (33:4): `God's spirit made me,' the soul called into being; `and the breath of the Almighty animates me,' the soul kept in energy and strength, in continued existence, by the Almighty, into whose hands the inbreathed spirit is surrendered, when the soul departs or is taken from us (1Ki 19:4). Hence, according to Oehler the phrases naphshi ("my soul"), naphshekha ("thy soul") may be rendered in Latin egomet, tu ipse; but not ruchi ("my spirit"), ruchakha ("thy spirit")--soul standing for the whole person, as in Ge 12:5; 17:14; Eze 18:4, etc.

See PSYCHOLOGY.

J. I. Marais

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Mind, spirit, inner man. 2. Life, vital principle, animating principle, seat of life, source of action. 3. Essence, principal part, essential part, best part, chief part, vital principle, spirit. 4. Leader, inspirer. 5. Individual, person, man, human being. 6. Disembodied spirit, spirit. 7. Ardor, fire, fervor, courage, energy, force, spirit. 8. Active power, energy.

Moby Thesaurus

Adamite, Geist, Muse, afflatus, an existence, anima, anima humana, animating force, animus, ardency, ardor, article, astral body, atman, axiom, ba, bathmism, beating heart, being, biological clock, biorhythm, blood, body, bones, bosom, breast, breath, breath of life, buddhi, cat, center, center of life, chap, character, conscience, core, creative thought, creativity, creature, critter, customer, daemon, daimonion, deepest recesses, demon, differentiation, differentness, distillate, distillation, distinctiveness, divine afflatus, divine breath, divine spark, duck, dynamism, earthling, ecstasy, ego, egohood, elan vital, elixir, embodiment, emotion, energy, entelechy, entity, esoteric reality, esprit, essence, essence of life, essential, excitement, fabric, feeling, fellow, fervency, fervidness, fervor, fire, fire of genius, flower, focus, force, force of life, fundamental, furor, fury, genius, gist, gravamen, gross body, groundling, growth force, gusto, guts, guy, hand, head, heart, heart of hearts, heartbeat, heartblood, heartiness, heartstrings, heat, homo, human, human being, human factor, hypostasis, identity, impassionedness, impulse of life, incarnation, individual, individualism, individuality, inmost heart, inmost soul, inner, inner essence, inner landscape, inner life, inner man, inner nature, inner recess, inner self, innermost being, inside, inspiration, inspiriting force, integer, integrity, intellect, interior, interior man, intern, internal, intrados, inward, item, jiva, jivatma, joker, kama, kernel, khu, life, life breath, life cycle, life essence, life force, life principle, life process, lifeblood, linga sharira, liveliness, living force, living soul, man, manas, manes, marrow, material, matter, meat, medium, mind, module, monad, mortal, nephesh, nerve center, nominalism, nonconformity, nose, noumenon, nub, nucleus, nuts and bolts, object, one, oneness, organism, particularism, particularity, party, passion, passionateness, penetralia, person, persona, personage, personal equation, personal identity, personality, personification, personship, physical body, pith, pneuma, point, postulate, prana, principle, principle of desire, psyche, purusha, quick, quid, quiddity, quintessence, reason, recesses, relish, ruach, sap, savor, seat of life, secret heart, secret place, secret places, self-identity, selfhood, selfness, sentiment, shade, shadow, sincerity, single, singleton, singularity, somebody, someone, something, spark of life, spirit, spiritual being, spiritus, sthula sharira, stuff, substance, sum and substance, talent, tellurian, terran, the nitty-gritty, the self, thing, true being, true inwardness, typification, uniqueness, unit, vehemence, verve, vis vitae, vis vitalis, viscera, vital center, vital energy, vital flame, vital fluid, vital force, vital principle, vital spark, vital spirit, vitality, vitals, vivacity, warmth, warmth of feeling, woman, worldling, zeal