footman

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Footman

English

[edit]
A footman of the household of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
Parts of a spinning wheel - H: footman

Etymology

[edit]

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

[edit]

footman (plural footmen)

  1. (archaic) A soldier who marches and fights on foot; a foot soldier.
  2. 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.
  3. (historical) A servant who runs in front of his master's carriage.
  4. A metallic stand with four feet, for keeping anything warm before a fire.
  5. A moth of the family Arctiidae (or subfamily Arctiinae); -- so called from its livery-like colors.
    1. especially, a common footman (Manulea lurideola)
  6. A bar that connects the treadle of a spinning wheel to the wheel.

Synonyms

[edit]

Derived terms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]

References

[edit]

Middle English

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

footman

  1. Alternative form of fotman