Where does “footprint” come from?
Footprint derives from Middle English fot, Old English fōt, and Proto-Indo-European pṓds, ultimately meaning foot or base, combined with the suffix -en and Latin in-.
footprint (English): The impression of the foot in a soft substance...
Definitions
- The impression of the foot in a soft substance...
Ancestry of “footprint”, step by step
footprint traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English print
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Of, relating to, or writing for printed... | |
| 2 | Middle English | printen | — |
| 3 | Middle English | emprinten | — |
| 4 | Old French | empreinter | — |
| 5 | Old French | empreindre | — |
| 6 | Latin | imprimere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 7 | Latin | imprimo | I press, impress; I print, imprint, stamp |
| 8 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 9 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 10 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |
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 |