From Middle English soule, sowle, saule, sawle, from Old English sāwol, from Proto-West Germanic *saiwalu, from Proto-Germanic *saiwalō.
Cognate with Scots saul, sowel, North Frisian siel, sial, Saterland Frisian Seele, West Frisian siel, Dutch ziel ("soul"), German Seele ("soul") Scandinavian homonyms seem to have been borrowed from Old Saxon *siala. Modern Danish sjæl, Swedish själ, Norwegian sjel. Icelandic sál may have come from Old English sāwol.
Borrowed from French souler ("to satiate").
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