footman
See also: Footman
English
Etymology
From Middle English fotman, footman, foteman (“foot soldier, running footman”), from Old English *fōtman, *fōtmann (attested only as Old English fēþman, fēþemann (“footman”), equivalent to foot + man.
Noun
footman (plural footmen)
- (archaic) A soldier who marches and fights on foot; a foot soldier.
- A man in waiting; a male servant whose duties are to attend the door, the carriage, the table, etc.
- Coordinate term: footwoman
- 1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, pages 251–252:
- […] on October 29, 1888, the Russian imperial train was derailed at Borki by defective track, and twenty-one persons were killed. Although these did not include the Emperor Alexander III, who escaped with a bruising, a footman serving coffee to him at the critical moment, and his dog, which was lying on the floor beside him, were both killed on the spot.
- 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
- And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […] : Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.
- 2023 September 23, Tim Hayward, “Not so easy does it”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 19:
- Reading their accounts, you can't help feeling they got a more thrilling frisson from sharing a pot of home-made stew without a footman than they took in any of their convoluted couplings.
- (historical) A servant who runs in front of his master's carriage.
- A metallic stand with four feet, for keeping anything warm before a fire.
- A moth of the family Arctiidae (or subfamily Arctiinae); -- so called from its livery-like colors.
- especially, a common footman (Manulea lurideola)
- A bar that connects the treadle of a spinning wheel to the wheel.
Synonyms
- (historical): runner, running footman
- (moth): footman moth
Derived terms
Translations
soldier who marches and fights on foot — see foot soldier
male servant
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servant who runs in front of his master's carriage
metallic stand with four feet
moth of the subfamily Arctiinae
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Manulea lurideola
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References
- “footman”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “footman”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “footman”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “footman”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Middle English
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