footing
Etymology
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Etymology
From Middle English fotyng; equivalent to foot + -ing.
Pronunciation- IPA: /ˈfʊtɪŋ/
footing
- A ground for the foot; place for the foot to rest on; firm foundation to stand on.
- 1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech: An Essay of Inquiry into the Natural Production of Letters: […], London: […] T. N[ewcomb] for J[ohn] Martyn printer to the R[oyal] Society, […], →OCLC ↗:
- In ascents, every step gained is a footing and help to the next.
- A standing; position; established place; foothold.
- 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC ↗:
- As soon, however, as he had obtained a footing at court, the charms of his manner […] made him a favorite.
- A relative condition; state.
- 1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC ↗:
- [L]ived on a footing of equality with nobles.
- (dated) A tread; step; especially, a measured tread.
- c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- Hark, I hear the footing of a man.
- (rare) A footprint or footprints; tracks, someone's trail.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗:
- The Monster swift as word, that from her went,
Went forth in hast, and did her footing trace […].
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 38, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC ↗:
- A man must doe as some wilde beasts, which at the entrance of their caves, will have no manner of footing seene.
- Stability or balance when standing on one's feet.
- He lost his footing and fell down.
- It was difficult to keep my footing on the ship during the storm.
- The act of adding up a column of figures; the amount or sum total of such a column.
- 1866, Francis A. Corliss, Supreme Court, County of New York, page 111:
- The auditing of the accounts, when the defendant was present, was nothing more than the examinings of the footings of the bookkeeper.
- The act of putting a foot to anything; also, that which is added as a foot
- the footing of a stocking
- A narrow cotton lace, without figures.
- The finer refuse part of whale blubber, not wholly deprived of oil.
- (architecture, engineering) The thickened or sloping portion of a wall, or of an embankment at its foot; foundation.
- (accounting) A double-check of the numbers vertically.
- German: Halt
- Present participle and gerund of foot
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
