Etymologically
Log in

footprint

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 09:11. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈfʊtpɹɪnt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English foot + print.[2][3][4][5] The OED compares the earlier footstep.[2] Old English had fōtspor and fōtswæð for the same idea.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mark left by the foot of a person or animal, or by a shoe: 1552, in Huloet's Abcedarium Anglico Latinum.[2][7] Etymonline dates it to the 1550s.[3]

Semantic evolution

A figurative sense, an impression or trace of something, is recorded from 1625.[2] The verb, to mark with footprints, appears in 1850, in Elizabeth Barrett Browning.[2] In the 20th century the word was extended to an area occupied or affected by something: the area where a tyre touches the ground (1925), the landing area of a spacecraft (1962), the area under an aircraft's noise (1967), the floor space taken up by a device (1969), the area where a satellite's signal can be received (1971), and a region of DNA protected by a bound protein (1978).[2][4] From 1979 it was used for the impact of human activity on the environment, as in carbon footprint.[2][8] From 1993 it has also been used in computing for the memory a program uses.[2][8] Collins also records the sense "presence", as of a military footprint in a region.[8]

Timeline

  • 1552 – the print of a foot.[2][7]
  • 1625 – figurative, a trace of something.[2]
  • 1850 – verb, to mark with footprints.[2]
  • 1925 – the area of contact of a tyre with the ground.[2]
  • 1962 – the landing area of a spacecraft.[2]
  • 1969 – the surface area taken up by a device or structure.[2]
  • 1971 – the area in which signals from a transmitter can be received.[2]
  • 1979 – the impact of human activity on the environment.[2]
  • 1993 – the memory a computer program uses.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A mark or hollow left by the foot or shoe of a person or animal on a surface: footprints in the snow.[8][7][2]
  2. A trace or sign of something.[7][2]
  3. The area of a surface taken up or covered by something, such as a building, a machine or a tyre: a printer with a small footprint.[8][7][2]
  4. The area within which something has an effect, such as the signals of a satellite or the noise of an aircraft.[2][4]
  5. The effect of an activity on the environment, as in carbon footprint.[8][2]
  6. The presence or range of operation of an organization: a company with a global footprint.[8][7]
  7. (computing) The amount of memory or other resources a program needs.[8][2]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins