Online Etymology Dictionary

sodomite (n.): late 14c., from Old French Sodomite or directly from Latin Sodomita (see Sodom).
sodomize (v.): 1868; see sodomy + -ize. Related: Sodomized; sodomizing. In Dutch slang, besodemieteren means "to deceive," and evidently is built from the traditional notion of "corruption" in Sodom.
sodomy (n.): c.1300, from Old French sodomie, from Late Latin peccatum Sodomiticum "anal sex," literally "sin of Sodom," from Latin Sodoma (see Sodom).
sofa (n.): 1620s, "raised section of a floor, covered with carpets and cushions," from Turk. sofa, from Arabic suffah "bench." Meaning "long stuffed seat for reclining" is recorded from 1717.
soffit (n.): 1610s, from Italian soffita, fem. of soffitto "ceiling," originally "fixed beneath," from Latin sub- "under" (see sub-) + past participle of figere "to fix, fasten" (see fix).
soft (adj.): Old English softe "gentle, easy, comfortable," from West Germanic *samfti, from Proto-Germanic *samftijaz "level, even, smooth, gentle, soft" (cf. Old Saxon safti, Old High German semfti, German sanft, Middle Dutch sachte, Dutch zacht), from root *som- "fitting, agreeable."

Sense of "causing little hardship or suffering" attested from c.1200. Of sounds, from mid-13c. Meaning "foolish, simple, silly" is attested from 1620s. Adjective soft core (in reference to pornography) is from 1966. Soft rock as a music style is attested from 1969. Soft sell is from 1955. Soft-shoe as a dancing style is attested from 1927.
soft-hearted (adj.): also softhearted, 1590s, from soft + hearted. Related: Softheartedly; softheartedness.
softball (n.): baseball of larger than usual size, used in a scaled-down version of the game, 1914, from soft + ball (n.1). The game itself so called from 1926, earlier known as playground baseball. The word earlier was a term in sugar candy making (1894). Softball question, one that is easy to answer, is attested from 1976.
soften (v.): late 14c., "to mitigate, diminish," from soft (adj.) + -en (1). Meaning "to make physically soft" is from 1520s; intransitive sense of "to become softer" is attested from 1610s. Related: Softened; softening.
software (n.): 1851, soft wares, "woolen or cotton fabrics," also, "relatively perishable consumer goods," from soft + ware (n.). The computer sense is a separate coinage from 1960, based on hardware.
sog (n.): "soft or marshy place," 1530s, of unknown origin.
soggy (adj.): 1722, perhaps from dialectal sog "bog, swamp," or from sog "become soaked" (mid-15c.), both of unknown origin, perhaps related to soak. Related: Soggily; sogginess.
Soho: district in New York city, 1969, from "South of Houston Street," but probably also echoing the name of the London neighborhood (famous for vice), which was so called since at least 1630s, originally "So Ho," a hunting cry (c.1300); the West End district so called from earlier association of this area with hunting.
soigne (adj.): 1821, from French soigné (fem. soignée), from past participle of soigner "to take care of," from soin "care."
soil (v.): early 13c., "to defile or pollute with sin," from Old French souillier "to foul or make dirty," originally "to wallow," from souil "tub, wild boar's wallow, pigsty," either from Latin solium "tub for bathing, seat," or from Latin suculus "little pig," from sus "pig." Meaning "to make dirty, begrime" is attested from c.1300. This is the sense of the noun in archaic night-soil. Related: Soiled; soiling.
soil (n.): "the earth or ground," c.1300, from Anglo-French soil "piece of ground, place" (13c.), from Latin solium "seat," meaning confused with that of Latin solum "soil, ground." Meaning "mould, earth, dirt" (especially that which plants grow in) is attested from mid-15c.
soiree (n.): "an evening party," 1793, from French soirée, from soir "evening," from Old French soir, from Latin sero (adv.) "late, at a late hour," from serum "late hour," neuter of serus "late," from PIE *se-ro-, from root *se- "long, late" (cf. Sanskrit sayam "in the evening," Lithuanian sietuva "deep place in a river," Old English sið "after," German seit "since," Gothic seiþus "late," Middle Irish sith, Middle Breton hir "long").
sojourn (v.): late 13c., "stay temporarily, reside for a time; visit;" also "reside permanently, dwell;" from Old French sojorner "stay or dwell for a time," from Vulgar Latin *subdiurnare "to spend the day," from Latin sub- "under, until" + diurnus "of a day," from diurnum "day" (see diurnal). French séjourner formed via vowel dissimilation. Related: Sojourned; sojourning.
sojourn (n.): mid-13c., "temporary stay, visit," from Anglo-French sojorn, variant of Old French sejor (see sojourn (v.)).
soke (n.): "right of jurisdiction," Old English socn "jurisdiction, prosecution," related to sacan "to quarrel," secan "to seek" (see seek).
Sol (n.): "the sun," mid-15c., from Latin sol "the sun," from PIE *s(e)wol-, from root *saewel- "to shine, the sun" (cf. Sanskrit suryah, Avestan hvar "sun, light, heavens;" Greek helios; Lithuanian saule; Old Church Slavonic slunice; Gothic sauil, Old English sol "sun," swegl "sky, heavens, the sun;" Welsh haul, Old Cornish heuul, Breton heol "sun;" Old Irish suil "eye"). The PIE element -*el- in the root originally was a suffix and had an alternative form -*en-, yielding *s(u)wen-, source of English sun (q.v.).
sol-fa: 1540s, from Italian, from Medieval Latin sol + fa, two notes of the musical scale. Related to solfeggio "use the sol-fa system" (1774), from Italian solfeggiare (see gamut).
solace (n.): "comfort, consolation," late 13c., from Old French solas, from Latin solacium, from solatus, past participle of solari "to console, soothe," from PIE root *sel- "of good mood, to favor" (cf. Greek hilaros "merry," Old English gesælig "happy;" see silly).
solace (v.): late 13c., "comfort, console;" also in Middle English "entertain, amuse, please," from Old French solacier and directly from Medieval Latin solatiare (see solace (n.)). Related: Solaced; solacing.
solar (adj.): mid-15c., from Latin solaris "of the sun," from sol "sun" (see sol). Meaning "living room on an upper story" is from Old English, from Latin solarium (see solarium).

Solar power is attested from 1915. Solar system is attested from c.1704. Solar plexus (1771) "complex of nerves in the pit of the stomach," apparently so called from its central position in the body. Solar cell attested from 1955. Solar panel is from 1964. Solar wind is from 1958.
solarium (n.): 1891, "part of a house exposed to the sun," earlier "sundial" (1842), from Latin solarium "sundial," also "a flat housetop," literally "that which is exposed to the sun," from sol "sun" (see sol).
solder (v.): mid-14c., sawd, from Old French soldure, from solder "to join with solder," from Latin solidare "to make solid," from solidus "solid" (see solid). Modern form is from early 15c. The -l- still is sounded in Great Britain. Related: Soldered; soldering. The noun is first attested late 14c.
soldier (n.): c.1300, from Old French soudier "one who serves in the army for pay," from Medieval Latin soldarius "a soldier" (cf. Italian soldato and French soldat "soldier," which is borrowed from Italian), literally "one having pay," from Late Latin soldum, from accusative of Latin solidus, a Roman gold coin (see solidus).
soldier (v.): "to serve as a soldier," 1640s, from soldier (n.); to soldier on "persist doggedly" is attested from 1954. Related: Soldiered; soldiering.
sole (n.1): "bottom of the foot," early 14c., from Old French sole, from Latin solea "sandal, bottom of a shoe," from solum "bottom, ground, soil," of unknown origin. The verb meaning "to provide with a sole" is recorded from 1560s.
sole (adj.): "single," late 14c., from Old French soul (fem. soule), from Latin solus "alone," of unknown origin, perhaps related to se "oneself," from PIE reflexive root *swo- (see so).
sole (n.2): "flatfish," mid-13c., from Old French sole, from Latin solea "a kind of flatfish," originally "sandal" (see sole (n.1)), so called from resemblance of the fish to a sandal.
solecism (n.): 1570s, from Middle French solécisme, from Latin soloecismus "mistake in speaking or writing," from Greek soloikismos "to speak (Greek) incorrectly," from soloikos "ungrammatical utterance," properly "a speaking like the people of Soloi," from Soloi, Athenian colony in Cilicia, whose dialect the Athenians considered barbarous.
solely (adv.): late 15c., from sole (adj.) + -ly (2).
solemn (adj.): late 13c., from Old French solempne (French solennel), from Latin sollemnis "formal, ceremonial, traditional," perhaps related to sollus "whole" (see safe (adj.). Related: Solemnly.
solemnity (n.): late 13c., "observance of ceremony," from Old French solempnete, from Latin solempnitas, from sollemnis (see solemn). Meaning "state of being solemn" is from 1712. Related: Solemnities.
solemnization (n.): mid-15c., from Old French solem(p)nisation or directly from Medieval Latin solempnizationem (nominative solempnizatio), from Latin sollemnis (see solemn).
solemnize (v.): late 14c.; see solemn + -ize. Related: Solemnized; solemnizing.
solenoid (n.): "coil of insulated wire carrying an electrical current and having magnetic properties," 1827, from French solénoïde, from Greek solen "pipe, channel" + comb. form of eidos "form, shape" (see -oid).
soleus (n.): Modern Latin, from Latin solea "sole" (see sole (n.1)).
solfege: 1912, from solfeggio (1774), from Italian solfeggio, from sol-fa, representing musical notes (see sol-fa).
solicit (v.): early 15c., "to disturb, trouble," from Middle French soliciter, from Latin solicitare "to disturb, rouse," from sollicitus "agitated," from sollus "whole, entire" + citus "aroused," past participle of ciere "shake, excite, set in motion" (see cite). Related: Solicited; soliciting.

Meaning "to further (business affairs)" evolved mid-15c. from Middle French sense of "manage affairs." The sexual sense (often in reference to prostitutes) is attested from 1701, probably from a merger of the business sense and an earlier sense of "to court or beg the favor of" (a woman), attested from 1590s.
solicitate (v.): 1540s, from past participle stem of Latin solicitare (see solicit). Related: Solicitated; solicitating.
solicitation (n.): late 15c., "management," from Old French solicitation or directly from Latin solicitationem (nominative solicitatio), from solicitare (see solicit). Meaning "action of soliciting" is from 1530s. Specific sexual sense is from c.1600.
solicitor (n.): early 15c., "one who urges," from Middle French soliciteur, from soliciter (see solicit). Meaning "one who conducts matters on behalf of another" is from early 15c. As a name for a specific class of legal practitioners in Britain, it is attested from 1570s.
solicitous (adj.): 1560s, from Latin sollicitus "restless, uneasy, careful" (see solicit). Related: Solicitously; solicitousness.
solicitude (n.): early 15c., from Old French solicitude or directly from Latin solicitudo, from solicitare (see solicit).
solid (adj.): late 14c., from Old French solide "firm, dense, compact," from Latin solidus "firm, whole, entire" (related to salvus "safe"), from PIE root *sol- "whole" (cf. Greek holos "whole," Latin salus "health;" see safe (adj.)). Slang sense of "wonderful, remarkable" first attested 1920 among jazz musicians. Solid South in U.S. political history is attested from 1858. Solid state as a term in physics is recorded from 1953; meaning "employing transistors (as opposed to vacuum tubes)" is from 1959. Related: Solidly.
solid (n.): late 15c., from solid (adj.).
solidarity (n.): 1841, from French solidarité "mutual responsibility," a coinage of the "Encyclopédie" (1765), from solidaire "interdependent, complete, entire," from solide (see solid (adj.)). With a capital S-, the name of an independent trade union movement in Poland, formed September 1980 and officially banned October 1982, from Polish Solidarność.