From Middle English fotyng; equivalent to foot + -ing.

• IPA: /ˈfʊtɪŋ/

footing

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. (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.

5. (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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. The act of putting a foot to anything; also, that which is added as a foot

   the footing of a stocking

9. A narrow cotton lace, without figures.
10. The finer refuse part of whale blubber, not wholly deprived of oil.
11. (architecture, engineering) The thickened or sloping portion of a wall, or of an embankment at its foot; foundation.
12. (accounting) A double-check of the numbers vertically.

• German: Halt, Grundlage, Basis, fester Stand
• Russian: опора для нога

• German: Standbein, feste Basis, Position

• German: Basis, Zustand

• German: Schritt, Gang

• German: Halt

1. Present participle and gerund of foot