socle

American  

[sok-uhl, soh-kuhl] / ˈsɒk əl, ˈsoʊ kəl /

noun

Architecture.

1. a low, plain part forming a base for a column, pedestal, or the like; plinth.

---

socle British  

/ ˈsəʊkəl /

noun

1. another name for plinth

---

Etymology

Origin of socle

1695–1705; < French < Italian zoccolo wooden shoe, base of a pedestal < Latin socculus literally, little soccus; see sock ¹, -ule

Example Sentences

Without Socialist involvement in the next government, Lecornu's best hope is to cobble together a revitalised centrist cabinet with the Republicans - known as the socle commun - or common platform.

From BBC • Oct. 8, 2025

Column Vendôme fell to-day; they have been working some days to undermine it at the base of the socle.

From In the Courts of Memory, 1858 1875; from Contemporary Letters by Hegermann-Lindencrone, L. de (Lillie de)

Two finely carved pyramids arose gloriously at the two extremes of the socle, which they confronted.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 36, 1649-1666 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century. by Bourne, Edward Gaylord

The height of the socle was six feet, and it was thirty-nine feet wide.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 36, 1649-1666 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century. by Bourne, Edward Gaylord

The tomb comprises three pieces: one for the socle, one for the slab, and another for the cross.

From Over Strand and Field by Flaubert, Gustave