footman
Americannoun
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footmen
plural
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a liveried servant who attends the door or carriage, waits on table, etc.
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a metal stand before a fire, to keep something hot.
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Archaic. an infantryman.
noun
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a male servant, esp one in livery
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a low four-legged metal stand used in a fireplace for utensils, etc
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(formerly) a foot soldier
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any of several arctiid moths related to the tiger moths, esp the common footman ( Eilema lurideola ), with yellowish hind wings and brown forewings with a yellow front stripe; they produce woolly bear larvae
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of footman
First recorded in 1250–1300, footman is from the Middle English word fotman. See foot, man
Explanation
A footman is a servant who works in a large, wealthy home. There aren't many footmen left these days, although you can still find some working for the British royal family. It was once common for wealthy families to employ uniform-wearing male servants. These footmen, usually young men, served food at the dinner table, filled in for absent butlers, carried heavy things, and opened and closed doors. The word footman comes from the original job of a running footman — an agile servant would run beside his master's carriage making sure it didn't tip over. Earlier, a footman was a "soldier who travels on foot," rather than on horseback.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She married the dying William Mason during the series and later settled down with Andrew Parker, a footman in the house who has now taken over for Mr. Carson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2025
During an event at the Gibside estate, in Rowlands Gill, they learned about William Johnson, who was black and worked as a footman there in the late 1700s.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2023
It had belonged, Ms. Miller said, to her great-aunt Lizzie, who had been a downstairs maid at a grand house in Scotland and had married the footman.
From New York Times ● May 6, 2023
A newspaper reporter who went undercover to work as a palace footman reinforced that down-to-earth image, taking photos of the royal Tupperware on the breakfast table and a rubber duck in the bath.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2022
She felt the carriage shift slightly as the driver and the footman stepped onto the driver’s seat, and then they were off, moving more smoothly than any carriage she had ever ridden in before.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
Alongside the coach, walk nine grooms, six footmen and four Yeomen of the Guard.
From BBC ● May 4, 2023
When the golden state coach, pulled by eight white horses and surrounded by liveried footmen, came into view, he knew it was time to use them.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2023
We are not a nation of shopkeepers; we are a nation of butlers, footmen and lady’s maids.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 3, 2019
The Queen will hang on to her palaces, diamond-encrusted tiaras, royal carriages, and footmen, not to mention billions in assets, vast tracts of prime land, and royal privilege.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 5, 2016
Under the south walls of the City the footmen of Gondor now drove against the legions of Morgul that were still gathered there in strength.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
