foot

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fʊt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fot, foot,^[2][3] inherited from Old English fōt (plural fēt),^[4][2] from Proto-Germanic *fōts,^[4][2] from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”).^[4][2][5] It is cognate with Old Frisian and Old Saxon fōt, Dutch voet, German Fuß, Old Norse fótr and Gothic fōtus,^[4][2] and outside Germanic with Latin pēs (“foot”) (genitive pedis), Greek poús, Lithuanian pėdà “footprint”, Armenian otn and Sanskrit pā́t.^[2][5][3] The plural feet is an instance of i-mutation.^[4] The verb is from the noun.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English, about 725 in Beowulf,^[2][6] with the OED's first example of the part of the leg below the ankle from about 950.^[7] Being at the bottom of something is also Old English, about 950, and under foot, “subject to another”, about 825.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The linear measure, regarded as the length of a man's foot, was already Old English (before 1000);^[4][2] its length varied, and the most usual medieval English foot was the 13.2-inch foot of the ancient Mediterranean.^[4] In this sense the plural is often foot.^[4] The metrical foot, translating Latin pēs and Greek poús, is late Old English.^[4] The lowest part of something, such as a bed or a page, is from before 1300.^[7] Foot for foot soldiers is from 1568.^[7] The verb meant “to dance” or “to go on foot” from about 1400,^[4][2] and “to add up and set the total at the foot” from the late 15th century, hence foot the bill (1848).^[4][2] Feet of clay is from the early 19th century, after Daniel's image.^[6] My foot!, expressing contemptuous disbelief, is from 1923.^[7] Footage is from 1892.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English fōt.^[2]
• c. 825 – under foot, subject.^[2]
• before 1000 – a linear measure.^[2]
• c. 1400 – verb, to dance; to go on foot.^[4]
• late 15th century – verb, to add up.^[4]
• 1568 – foot soldiers.^[7]
• 1848 – foot the bill.^[4][2]
• 1892 – footage.^[2]
• 1923 – my foot!.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The part of the leg below the ankle, on which a person or animal stands and walks.
2. The lowest part or base of something; the end of a bed where the feet lie.
3. A unit of length equal to 12 inches (30.48 cm).
4. A unit of rhythm in verse, made of stressed and unstressed syllables.
5. Soldiers who fight on foot; infantry.

Verb

1. To pay: foot the bill.
2. To go on foot; to dance.

Related words

• fetch
• fetter
• pedal
• pedestrian
• podium
• octopus
• antipodes
• pawn
• impede

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press