footing

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

     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 1069526323:

     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 [from the Encyclopædia Britannica]”, 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 30956848:

     [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 606515358, (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 960102938:

     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 946730821:

     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.
   • 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.

   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 (p.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[1].
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

 

Translations

a ground for the foot

Bulgarian: опора (bg) f (opora) German: Halt (de) m, Grundlage (de) f, Basis (de) f, fester Stand m Greek: πάτημα (el) n (pátima) 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

stability or balance when standing on one's feet

German: Halt (de) m Hungarian: egyensúly (hu)

Verb

footing

1. present participle of foot

References

1. 1858, Peter Lund Simmonds, The Dictionary of Trade Products

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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.

Further reading

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

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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

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Italian

Etymology

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

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 quote)

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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, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014