footman

CEFRC2

/fˈʊtmən/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A male servant who traditionally attends people in a household.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A man in waiting; a male servant whose duties are to attend the door, the carriage, the table, etc.

Examples

  • The footman announced the arrival of the duchess.

  • Reading their accounts, you can't help feeling they got a more thrilling frisson from sharing a pot of home-made stew without a footman than they took in any of their convoluted couplings.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
3

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A servant who runs in front of his master's carriage.

  2. A soldier who marches and fights on foot; a foot soldier.

  3. A metallic stand with four feet, for keeping anything warm before a fire.

More examples

In context

  • When he travelled by coach the vehicle was accompanied by his liveried footmen running alongside to ensure its smooth passage (footmen would not be indoor servants until a century later).

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank in the elegant uniform opened the carriage door for the arriving guests.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.