Sowls

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term that can refer to the faces or expressions of people, often used in dialectal or archaic contexts ; sometimes denoting a sulky or sour look
2. Used to describe the visages or facial appearances of individuals, particularly when marked by a sullen demeanor ; occasionally indicating a frown or pout in regional speech
3. Refers to the countenances or looks on someone's face, especially when characterized by moodiness or discontent ; notable in nonstandard or older English usage

Etymology: Sowls is the plural of "sowl," a noun meaning a gloomy or sulky facial expression, and it is a word whose origin has nothing to do with gloom. The noun comes from Middle English "sowel," "souel," or "suvel," meaning food eaten with bread, and from Old English "sufel" or "sufol," meaning anything, especially a relish, eaten with bread. Its roots reach back to a Proto-Germanic word for dishes served alongside the main course, and it is cognate with dairy and porridge words across Scandinavian, Dutch, and German languages. The gloomy sense is a separate, unrelated word, "sowl" as a verb meaning to pull or tug a piglet's ears. Farmers did this to discipline an orphaned piglet that jumped on people, a job normally done by the mother sow. That verb's origin is unknown, though it is compared with German words meaning to tug or drag, and it is linked to "tousle." The facial-expression sense of the noun appears to come from the same idea of pulling or dragging the face down, though the source does not confirm that link.