'soul' originates from Old English, specifically the word 'sāwol' (also 'sawol'), where Proto-Germanic '*saiwalō' meant 'life' or the 'living self'.

'soul' changed from Old English 'sāwol' / 'sawol' into Middle English 'soule' and eventually became the modern English word 'soul'.

Initially, it meant 'life' or 'a living being'; over time it evolved into the current meanings of 'the immaterial essence of a person' and, by extension, 'a person'.