- foot
- O.E. fot, from P.Gmc. *fot (cf. O.N. fotr, Du. voet, Ger. Fuß, Goth. fotus "foot"), from PIE *pod-/*ped- (cf. Avestan pad-; Skt. pat, acc. padam "foot;" Gk. pos, Attic pous, gen. podos; L. pes, gen. pedis "foot;" Lith. padas "sole," peda "footstep"). Plural form feet is an instance of i-mutation. Of a bed, grave, etc., first recorded 1300. The linear measurement of 12 inches is first recorded in O.E., from the length of a man's foot. To foot a bill is attested from 1848, from the process of tallying the expenses and writing the figure at the bottom ("foot") of the bill. Theatrical footlights is first attested 1836; footnote is from 1841. Colloquial exclamation my foot! expressing "contemptuous contradiction" is first attested 1923, probably a euphemism for my ass, in the same sense, which dates back to 1796. The metrical foot (O.E., translating L. pes, Gk. pous in the same sense) is commonly taken as a reference to keeping time by tapping the foot. To get off on the right foot is from 1909; to put one's best foot foremost first recorded 1849.