footbinding

English

Alternative forms

• foot binding, foot-binding

Etymology

From foot +‎ binding.

Noun

footbinding (countable and uncountable, plural footbindings)

1. (historical) The old Chinese custom of binding women's feet with cloth to prevent them from growing with age. [from 19th c.]
   • 2020 February 14, Antonia Malchik, “The Neglected Consequences of Foot-Binding”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     More recent studies have shown that foot-binding was likely practiced not purely for the sake of marriage, but also to keep girls at home and engaged in handicrafts, such as spinning cotton, in order to contribute to their family’s income.

2. The material used to bind feet for this reason.

Translations

binding of women's feet

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 紮腳 / 扎脚 (zaat³ goek³), 纏腳 / 缠脚 (zin⁶ goek³)

  Hokkien: 縛跤 / 缚跤 (pa̍k-kha)

  Mandarin: 裹腳 / 裹脚 (zh) (guǒjiǎo), 纏足 / 缠足 (zh) (chánzú), 纏腳 / 缠脚 (zh) (chánjiǎo)

• Finnish: jalkojen sitominen
• French: pieds bandés (refers to feet)
• German: Füßebinden n
• Japanese: 纏足 (ja) (てんそく, tensoku)
• Korean: 전족(纏足) (ko) (jeonjok)
• Russian: бинтова́ние ног n (bintovánije nog)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

See also

• lotus foot