Etymologically
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Fuß

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Pronunciation

Forms

Fuß m (genitive Fußes, plural Füße, diminutive Füßchen n or Füßlein n or Fußerl n)[1] Old High German declined the word partly as an i-stem, with the plural fuozzi, and partly after other patterns, with dative plurals in -um, -un and -on.[2] Middle High German had the plurals vuoʒe and, with umlaut, vüeʒe, and as a measure it was left uninflected, as in drei Fuß today.[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German vuoz, inherited from Old High German fuoz, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *fōt, inherited from Proto-Germanic *fōts (“foot”).[5][6][1][2] The same word is Old Saxon fōt, Middle Low German vōt, Old Frisian fōt, Old English fōt, Old Norse fótr and Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐍄𐌿𐍃 (fōtus), continued in Dutch voet, English foot and Swedish fot.[5][6][7][8] The u-stem of the East Germanic word is a new formation built on the accusative forms of an old root noun, perhaps helped by other body-part names of that class such as 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃 (handus, “hand”).[2] The old inflection survives in plurals with umlaut such as fēt and føtr, from *fōtiz, the source of the English plural feet.[2]

It continues the root noun Proto-Indo-European *pṓds (“foot”), which had a strong ablaut within its paradigm that each language levelled in its own way.[5][7] Germanic generalised the lengthened grade *pōd-.[7] Related words are Sanskrit पद् (pád), Ancient Greek πούς (poús) with the Doric form πώς (pṓs), Latin pēs, Lithuanian pėda, Hittite pata- and Tocharian B paiyye.[5][6][8][1] Kluge takes the root to be ultimately an imitation of heavy treading.[5] Forms with the vowel /e/ of the same root are behind Fessel “fetter”, and the Latin and Greek words reached German as Pedal and Podium.[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German fuoz is recorded from the 8th century, possibly first in the Merseburg charms, which Köbler dates with a query to the first half of that century, and then in glosses, Isidor, the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.[10][2][11] Besides the foot it meant a hoof, a base or plinth, a podium and a metrical foot, glossing Latin pes, planta, basis and dactylus.[2]

Semantic evolution

The name of the body part was early transferred to the supporting part of vessels, furniture and buildings, and to the foot of a mountain.[6][9] It was also a measure of length, now out of use in German, unlike English foot.[9][12] In southern German, Austrian and Swiss usage Fuß can mean the whole leg.[9][4]

The legal formula stehenden Fußes “on the spot, at once”, recorded in the 14th century, is probably a translation of Latin stante pede: a judgement could be challenged only as long as the challenger had not moved his foot from the place.[13][5][9] Many phrases followed: etwas mit Füßen treten “to trample on something” is found from Luther on, Hand und Fuß haben “to make sense” in 1650, and Fuß fassen “to gain a footing” in the 18th century.[13] Fußball was formed in the 17th century as a translation of English football, at first for the ball kicked with the foot.[9][6] Since the end of the 19th century it has named the team game.[9]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German fuoz is first recorded.[5][10]
  • 14th century – The legal formula stehenden Fußes is recorded.[13]
  • 15th century – Fußangel “mantrap, caltrop” and Füßling “foot of a stocking” are recorded.[6][9]
  • 16th century – Luther uses etwas mit Füßen treten.[13]
  • 17th century – Fußball is formed after English football.[9][6]
  • 1650 – First record of Hand und Fuß haben.[13]
  • Late 19th century – Fußball comes to mean the team game.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A foot: the lowest part of the leg of a human or vertebrate, joined to it at the ankle: Nach der langen Wanderung taten ihr die Füße weh.[4][1]
  2. (southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland) The leg.[4][1]
  3. The last segment of an insect's leg, and the muscular organ of movement of a mollusc.[4]
  4. The supporting part of a piece of furniture or other object, or the lower part from which something rises, a base: der Fuß des Berges.[4][1]
  5. The part of a stocking that covers the foot.[4]
  6. (plural unchanged; dated) A foot as a unit of length, of varying size.[4][1]
  7. Short for Versfuß: a metrical foot.[4][1]
  8. A standard or footing, as in auf großem Fuß leben “to live in grand style”.[4][1]

Word family

  • barfuß
  • Fußangel
  • Fußball
  • fußen
  • Fußgänger
  • Fußvolk
  • Fußballen
  • Fußboden
  • Fußfessel
  • -füßig
  • Füßling
  • Fußnote
  • Fußstapfe
  • Versfuß
  • Fessel
  • Pedal
  • Podium
  • English foot

Usage notes

Zu Fuß means on foot, bei Fuß! is the command that keeps a dog at heel, and kalte Füße bekommen (colloquial) is to back out of a plan because of second thoughts.[4][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 3, 649
  3. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 579
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 326
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  7. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  11. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 118
  12. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  13. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer