What does “Einlegesohle” mean in German?

Comparing a real Adidas Samba to a cheaper lookalike, this test checks the Einlegesohle among other parts. The word builds transparently: einlegen means “to lay/put something into” something else (like layering ingredients into a dish), and Sohle is “sole.” An Einlegesohle is therefore the loose inner sole placed inside a shoe — as opposed to the Laufsohle, the outer sole that touches the ground.

German shoe vocabulary stacks the same way throughout: Laufsohle (outsole, from laufen, “to walk/run”), Fersenfutter (heel lining, from Ferse, “heel,” and Futter, “lining/stuffing”). Once you know Sohle means “sole,” you can guess most of the rest — useful the next time a salesperson lists a shoe’s parts in German.