Where does “feetfirst” come from?

feetfirst (English) comes from English feet, from Middle English feet, from Old English fēt, from Proto-Germanic fōtiz, from Proto-Indo-European pódes, from Proto-Indo-European pṓds, from Proto-Indo-European póds, from Proto-Indo-European ped- — to walk, to step; to stumble, to fall.

feetfirst (English): With one's feet going first

Definitions

  1. With one's feet going first

Ancestry of “feetfirst”, step by step

feetfirst traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English feet

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishfeetplural of foot; Fact; performance; feat
2Middle Englishfeetplural of fot
3Old Englishfēt
4Proto-Germanicfōtiz
5Proto-Indo-Europeanpódes
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpṓdsfoot
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpódsfoot
8Proto-Indo-Europeanped-to walk, to step; to stumble, to fall

via English First

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishFirstPreceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest
2Middle Englishfirstfirst
3Old EnglishfyrstAlternative form of fierst; Alternative form of...
4Proto-Germanicfrestaz
5Proto-Indo-Europeanpres-to press
6Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ped-