souls

Noun

soul (countable and uncountable, plural souls)

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.
   • "Among the daughters of the air," answered one of them. "A mermaid has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hangs her eternal destiny. But the daughters of the air, although they do not possess an immortal soul, can, by...1836, Hans Christian Andersen (translated into English by Mrs. H. B. Paull in 1872), The Little Mermaid
2. The spirit or essence of anything.
   • From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   crux

3. Life, energy, vigor.
   • That he vvants Algebra he muſt confeſs. / But not a ſoul to give our arms ſucceſs.1725, [Edward Young], “Satire III. To the Right Honourable Mr. Dodington.”, in Love of Fame, the Universal Passion. In Seven Characteristical Satires, 4th edition, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard]...
4. Cultural consciousness and pride among people of African American heritage.
5. A strong positive feeling of intense sensitivity and emotional fervor conveyed especially by African American performers.
6. Soul music.

See all 13 meanings of soul