# first footing

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. The practice, during Hogmanay, of visiting friends and family, especially to be the first person to cross a home's threshold after midnight on New Year's Eve bearing a small gift.

## Etymology
From Scots tae first-fit (“to be the first to visit at the new year”, literally “to first-foot”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/first-footing