footing
/ˈfʊtɪŋ/noun, verb
footing is spelled F-O-O-T-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, footing means “A ground for the foot; place for the foot to rest on; firm foundation to stand on” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of footing is footings.
How many letters and syllables are in footing?
| Letters | 7: F-O-O-T-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,928th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is footing?
Footing appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce footing?
- /ˈfʊtɪŋ/
Footing has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-footing.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of footing
- footings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does footing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A ground for the foot; place for the foot to rest on; firm foundation to stand on.
- 2
A standing; position; established place; foothold.
- 3
A relative condition; state.
- 4
datedA tread; step; especially, a measured tread.
- 5
rareA footprint or footprints; tracks, someone's trail.
- 6
Stability or balance when standing on one's feet.
He lost his footing and fell down.
- 7
Mental stability or balance.
- 8
The act of adding up a column of figures; the amount or sum total of such a column.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of foot
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Footing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | appui, prise , position , état, base |
| German | Halt, Grundlage, Basis, fester Stand , Standbein, feste Basis |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does footing come from?
From Middle English fotyng; equivalent to foot + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).