foot

/fʊt/

//fʊt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"foot" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“foot” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,426 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,426
frequency rank, English
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A biological structure found in many animals that is used for locomotion and that is frequently a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

foot vs for
50% similar
foot vs fox
50% similar
foot vs fro
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for foot
PropertyValue
Headwordfoot
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/fʊt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,426
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “foot” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). foot lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for foot is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /fʊt/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,426 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 26 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for foot, with forms such as "ffoot", "foott", and "fot". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "for", "fox", "fro", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fot, fote, foot, from Old English fōt, from Proto-West Germanic *fōt, from Proto-Germanic *fōts, from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds. Doublet of pes, pie (“Spanish unit of length”), and pous. Cognates *Scots fit (“foot”) *Yola voote (“foot”) … The correct English form is foot, spelled F-O-O-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A biological structure found in many animals that is used for locomotion and that is frequently a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg.
  2. 2
    Specifically, a human foot, which is found below the ankle and is used for standing and walking.
  3. 3
    Travel by walking.
  4. 4
    The base or bottom of anything.
  5. 5
    The part of a flat surface on which the feet customarily rest.
  6. 6
    The end of a rectangular table opposite the head.
  7. 7
    A short foot-like projection on the bottom of an object to support it.
  8. 8
    A unit of measure equal to twelve inches or one third of a yard, equal to exactly 30.48 centimetres.
  9. 9
    A unit of measure equal to twelve inches or one third of a yard, equal to exactly 30.48 centimetres.
  10. 10
    A unit of measure equal to twelve inches or one third of a yard, equal to exactly 30.48 centimetres.
  11. 11
    A unit of measure for organ pipes equal to the wavelength of two octaves above middle C, approximately 328 mm.
  12. 12
    Foot soldiers; infantry.
  13. 13
    The end of a cigar which is lit, and usually cut before lighting.
  14. 14
    The part of a sewing machine which presses downward on the fabric, and may also serve to move it forward.
  15. 15
    The bottommost part of a typed or printed page.
  16. 16
    The base of a piece of type, forming the sides of the groove.
  17. 17
    The basic measure of rhythm in a poem.
  18. 18
    The parsing of syllables into prosodic constituents, which are used to determine the placement of stress in languages along with the notions of constituent heads.
  19. 19
    The bottom edge of a sail.
  20. 20
    The end of a billiard or pool table behind the foot point where the balls are racked.
  21. 21
    In a bryophyte, that portion of a sporophyte which remains embedded within and attached to the parent gametophyte plant.
  22. 22
    The muscular part of a bivalve mollusc or a gastropod by which it moves or holds its position on a surface.
  23. 23
    The globular lower domain of a protein.
  24. 24
    The point of intersection of one line with another that is perpendicular to it.
  25. 25
    Fundamental principle; basis; plan.
  26. 26
    Recognized condition; rank; footing.

Etymology

From Middle English fot, fote, foot, from Old English fōt, from Proto-West Germanic *fōt, from Proto-Germanic *fōts, from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds. Doublet of pes, pie (“Spanish unit of length”), and pous. Cognates *Scots fit (“foot”) *Yola voote (“foot”) *North Frisian fut, fötj (“foot”) *Saterland Frisian Fout (“foot”) *West Frisian foet (“foot”) *Cimbrian buus, vuaz, vuus (“foot”) *Dutch voet (“foot”) *Dutch Low Saxon voot (“foot”) *German Fuß, Fuss (“foot”) *German Low German Faut, Foot (“foot”) *Gottscheerish vúəs (“foot”) *Luxembourgish Fouss (“foot”) *Mòcheno vuas (“foot”) *Vilamovian füs (“foot”) *Yiddish פֿוס (fus, “foot”) *Danish fod (“foot”) *Faroese, Icelandic fótur (“foot”) *Jamtish fót (“foot”) *Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish fot (“foot”) *Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐍄𐌿𐍃 (fōtus, “foot”).

Synonyms

pesdogfootgripper

This word in other languages

pie(Español)pied(Français)Fuß(Deutsch)pé(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ffoot,foott,fot,foto,ofot

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of foot - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ffoot1foott1fot1foto2ofot2
Edit distance from "foot"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "foot"?
"foot" is spelled F-O-O-T. The IPA pronunciation is /fʊt/.
What does "foot" mean?
As a noun, "foot" means: A biological structure found in many animals that is used for locomotion and that is frequently a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg.
What words are commonly confused with "foot"?
"foot" is commonly confused with "for", "fox", "fro". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "foot"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "foot" is /fʊt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "foot"?
From Middle English fot, fote, foot, from Old English fōt, from Proto-West Germanic *fōt, from Proto-Germanic *fōts, from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds. Doublet of pes, pie (“Spanish unit of length”), and pous. Cognates *Scots fit (“foot”) *Yola voote... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “foot”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is F-O-O-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /fʊt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “for” - see the side-by-side comparison. foot vs for
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list