# footman

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #52,952

## Definitions
1. A soldier who marches and fights on foot; a foot soldier.
2. A man in waiting; a male servant whose duties are to attend the door, the carriage, the table, etc.
3. A servant who runs in front of his master's carriage.
4. A metallic stand with four feet, for keeping anything warm before a fire.
5. A moth of the family Arctiidae (or subfamily Arctiinae); -- so called from its livery-like colors.
6. A moth of the family Arctiidae (or subfamily Arctiinae); -- so called from its livery-like colors.
7. A bar that connects the treadle of a spinning wheel to the wheel.

## Etymology
From Middle English fotman, footman, foteman (“foot soldier, running footman”), from Old English *fōtman, *fōtmann (attested only as Old English fēþman, fēþemann (“footman”), equivalent to foot + man.

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