concept
Soulmate
A romantic partner who feels destined โ the singular 'one'.
Origin
The idea has ancient roots: Plato's Symposium describes humans as originally double-bodied beings, split in half by Zeus and now searching for their other half. Christian and Romantic traditions added the religious gloss. The English word 'soul-mate' appears in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's writing in 1822.
Modern usage
Used earnestly in wedding speeches and cynically by anyone tired of the concept. Increasingly displaced by 'life partner' in less mystical circles.
Tags
destiny
love
the-one