Now dial. Forms: 1 saʓol, sahel, 3 saȝel; 2, 9 sowel, 4–5 soul(e, 9 sole, zooul. [OE. sáʓol, = MHG. (now Swiss dial.) seigel rung of a ladder. Cf. SAIL sb.4]
† 1. A stout stick or staff; a pole, cudgel, etc. Obs.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., II. vi. 88. Ealle þa consulas … Claudium þone ænne mid saʓlum ofbeotan.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxvi. 47. Þa com iudas an of þam twelfum & micel folk mid hym mid swurdum & sahlum [Hatton Gosp. mid sahlen].
c. 1150. Semi-Sax. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 549. Fustis, sowel.
c. 1205. Lay., 12280. And ælc bær an honde ænne saȝel [c. 1275 staf] stronge.
2. A stake sharpened at the end, esp. one used in the construction of a hedge or fence; in later use, a hurdle-stake (cf. quots.).
c. 900. Wærferth, trans. Gregory’s Dial., 24. His oðer fot wearð fæst on anum saʓle [v.rr. sahle, heʓesahle] þæs ʓeardes.
13[?]. Guy Warw. (A.), 3616. In ich half y-sett arawe, Scharpe soules doun of þe hulle y-drawe.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. cliv. (Bodl. MS.). Soules & stakes beþ iclensed ere þei be ipiȝt in þe grounde.
1844. W. Barnes, Poems Rur. Life (1847), 387. Sowel, or Sole.… A shore or stake, such as is driven into ground to fasten up hurdles to.
1881. I. of Wight Words, Zooul, a stake to fasten sheep-hurdles.
1890. Glouc. Gloss., Sole, a stake driven into the ground to fasten up hurdles.
