Where does “footfall” come from?
Footfall comes from English fall and English whale, wale, and the Middle English suffix -en, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European pṓds meaning foot.
footfall (English): The sound made by a footstep; Foot traffic
Definitions
- The sound made by a footstep; Foot traffic
Ancestry of “footfall”, step by step
footfall traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English foot
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | foot | A biological structure found in many animals that... |
| 2 | Middle English | fot | foot; The bottom, lower part or foundation of... |
| 3 | Old English | fōt | foot |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | fōt | foot |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fōts | foot |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pṓds | foot |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | póds | foot |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ped- | to walk, to step; to stumble, to fall |