Link Centre Dictionary

footstep

foots·tep

UK/ˈfʊtstɛp/ US/ˈfʊˌtstɛp/ rare obsolete

noun

1.

the sound of a step of someone walking

  • “he heard footsteps on the porch”
Synonyms
2.

the act of taking a step in walking

3.

the distance covered by a step

  • “he stepped off ten paces from the old tree and began to dig”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English fotstep, fotstappe, from Old English *fōtstepe, *fōtstæpe (attested only in derivative fōtstappel (“footstep”)), equivalent to foot + step. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Foutstappe (“footstep”), West Frisian fuotstap (“footstep”), Dutch voetstap (“footstep”).

Phrases

  • devil's footstep

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.