FromMiddle Englishfotyng; equivalent tofoot +-ing.
footing (countable anduncountable,pluralfootings)
- Aground for the foot;place for the foot torest on;firmfoundation tostand on.
1669,William Holder,Elements of Speech: An Essay of Inquiry into the Natural Production of Letters: […], London: […] T. N[ewcomb] forJ[ohn] Martyn printer to theR[oyal] Society, […],→OCLC:In ascents, every step gained is afooting and help to the next.
- Astanding;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 afooting 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”, inThe New York Times[1],→ISSN:While the California economy maintains its powerhouse status[…] the state’s most-powerful sectors[…]have struggled to keep theirfooting, pummeled by high interest rates, investor skittishness, labor strife and other turmoil.
- Arelativecondition;state.
1856 December,[Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, inT[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor,The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London:Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published1871,→OCLC:[L]ived on afooting of equality with nobles.
- (dated) Atread;step; especially, a measured tread.
c.1596–1598 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,(please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):Hark, I hear thefooting of a man.
- (rare) Afootprint orfootprints;tracks, someone'strail.
1603,Michel de Montaigne, chapter 38, inJohn Florio, transl.,The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes forEdward Blount […],→OCLC:A man must doe as some wilde beasts, which at the entrance of their caves, will have no manner offooting 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 thefooting 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.
- Stability or balance when standing on one's feet.
He lost hisfooting and fell down.
It was difficult to keep myfooting on the ship during the storm.
2011 October 29, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal”, inBBC Sport:Terry lost hisfooting to allowVan 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 pastPetr Cech deep into stoppage time.
- The act ofadding up acolumn offigures; theamount orsumtotal of such a column.
1866, Francis A. Corliss,Supreme Court, County of New York, page111:The auditing of the accounts, when the defendant was present, was nothing more than the examinings of thefootings of the bookkeeper.
- The act of putting a foot to anything; also, that which is added as a foot
- Anarrowcottonlace, withoutfigures.
- Thefinerrefuse part ofwhaleblubber, not whollydeprived ofoil.[1]
- (architecture, engineering) Thethickened orsloping portion of awall, or of anembankment at its foot;foundation.
- (accounting) A double-check of the numbers vertically.
a standing; position; established place; basis for operation
a relative condition; state
a tread; step; especially, measured tread
stability or balance when standing on one's feet
footing
- presentparticiple andgerund offoot
- ^1858, Peter Lund Simmonds,The Dictionary of Trade Products
Pseudo-anglicism, fromEnglishfoot(“foot, to walk”) +-ing.
footing m (uncountable)
- (France)exercisewalking,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 dufooting à deux.- I don't understand those whojog in pairs.
- (North America, colloquial)footing
FromFrenchfooting,pseudo-anglicism, fromEnglishfoot(“foot, to walk”) +-ing.
footing m (uncountable)
- jogging (as a form of exercise),running
Unadapted borrowing fromFrenchfooting, and this apseudo-anglicism.
footing m (invariable)
- jogging
2006, Vittorino Andreoli,Alfabeto delle relazioni, BUR Saggi:
Unadapted borrowing fromFrenchfooting, and this apseudo-anglicism, fromEnglishfoot(“foot, to walk”) +-ing.
footing m (uncountable)
- jogging (as a form of exercise),running
2014, Alex de Deus Monteiro,El hijo de un Dios Mayor, Bubok Publishing,→ISBN, page24:—¿Todos los días hacefooting? —preguntó Pancho.- —Are youjogging every day? —asked Pancho.
According toRoyal 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.
