footing

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfʊtɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊtɪŋ

Noun

footing (countable and uncountable, plural footings)

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.

   • 2023 April 11, Kurtis Lee, “California Economy Is on Edge After Tech Layoffs and Studio Cutbacks”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     While the California economy maintains its powerhouse status […] the state’s most-powerful sectors […] have struggled to keep their footing, pummeled by high interest rates, investor skittishness, labor strife and other turmoil.

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.

   • 1683, John Dryden, transl., Plutarch's Lives: Life of Crassus, translation of original by Plutarch:

     So he marched his army along the river with seven legions, little less than four thousand horse, and as many light-armed soldiers, and the scouts returning declared that not one man appeared, but that they saw the footing of a great many horses which seemed to be retiring in flight, whereupon Crassus conceived great hopes, and the Romans began to despise the Parthians, as men that would not come to combat, hand to hand.

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.

   • 2011 October 29, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal”, in BBC Sport:

     Terry lost his footing to allow Van Persie to race clear for Arsenal's fourth after 85 minutes before the Netherlands striker completed a second treble against Chelsea by hammering his third past Petr Cech deep into stoppage time.

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.

Derived terms

• first footing
• footing beam
• footing course
• on an equal footing
• on equal footing
• pay one's footing
• war footing
• wartime footing

 

Translations

a ground for the foot

• Bulgarian: опора (bg) f (opora)
• Danish: fodfæste n
• German: Halt (de) m, Grundlage (de) f, Basis (de) f, fester Stand m
• Greek: πάτημα (el) n (pátima)
• Ottoman Turkish: پایه (paye)
• Russian: опо́ра для ног f (opóra dlja nog)
• Swedish: fotfäste (sv) n

a standing; position; established place; basis for operation

• German: Standbein (de) n, feste Basis f, Position (de) f
• Hungarian: alapok (hu) pl

a relative condition; state

• German: Basis (de) f, Zustand (de) m
• Hungarian: helyzet (hu), státusz (hu)

a tread; step; especially, measured tread

• German: Schritt (de) m, Gang (de) m
• Hungarian: lépés (hu), léptek (hu)

stability or balance when standing on one's feet

• Danish: fodfæste n
• German: Halt (de) m
• Hungarian: egyensúly (hu)

Verb

footing

1. present participle and gerund of foot

French

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, from English foot (“foot, to walk”) +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fu.tiŋ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

footing m (uncountable)

1. (France) exercise walking, jogging (as a form of exercise)

   Synonym: jogging

   • 2014, Erin McCahan, Cool, Sweet, Hot, Love, Nathan (publ.), page 8.

     Je ne comprends pas ceux qui font du footing à deux.

     I don't understand those who jog in pairs.

2. (North America, colloquial) footing

Further reading

• “footing”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Etymology

From French footing, pseudo-anglicism, from English foot (“foot, to walk”) +‎ -ing.

Noun

footing m (uncountable)

1. jogging (as a form of exercise), running

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French footing, and this a pseudo-anglicism.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

footing m (invariable)

1. jogging
   • 2006, Vittorino Andreoli, Alfabeto delle relazioni, BUR Saggi:

     Fa sport agonistico, nel footing è più atletico dei propri figli.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French footing, and this a pseudo-anglicism, from English foot (“foot, to walk”) +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfutin/ [ˈfu.t̪ĩn]
• Rhymes: -utin

Noun

footing m (uncountable)

1. jogging (as a form of exercise), running
   • 2014, Alex de Deus Monteiro, El hijo de un Dios Mayor, Bubok Publishing, →ISBN, page 24:

     —¿Todos los días hace footing? —preguntó Pancho.

     —Are you jogging every day? —asked Pancho.

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “footing”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28