footnote
Americannoun
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footnotes
plural
-
an explanatory or documenting note or comment at the bottom of a page, referring to a specific part of the text on the page.
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a minor or tangential comment or event added or subordinated to a main statement or more important event.
verb (used with object)
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footnotes,
present (3rd person singular)
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footnoted,
past participle, past
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footnoting
present participle
noun
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a note printed at the bottom of a page, to which attention is drawn by means of a reference mark in the body of the text
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an additional comment, as to a main statement
verb
Usage
What’s the difference between a footnote and an endnote? A footnote is a note at the bottom (the “foot”) of a page. An endnote is a note at the end of a text (such as an article, a chapter, or an entire book). The difference between footnotes and endnotes is their location, not their function. Both consist of information added to a text in another spot, such as an explanation or a citation of a source. They are both usually indicated with some kind of mark, often an asterisk* or a number¹. The same mark appears in another part of the text along with the corresponding note, either at the bottom of the page (making it a footnote) or at the end of the text (making it an endnote). Of course, if an article is only a single page, the note at the end could be called a footnote or an endnote. Here’s an example of footnote and endnote used correctly in the same sentence. Example: I use footnotes for tangential information so that readers can access it without turning the page, but I use endnotes for citations so they don’t clutter up the page. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between footnote and endnote.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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footnotesimple
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footnotessimple
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have footnotedperfect
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has footnotedperfect
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am footnotingprogressive
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are footnotingprogressive
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is footnotingprogressive
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have been footnotingperfect progressive
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has been footnotingperfect progressive
Past
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footnotedsimple
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had footnotedperfect
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was footnotingprogressive
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were footnotingprogressive
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had been footnotingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of footnote
Compare meaning
How does footnote compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A footnote is a short bit of extra information that's printed at the bottom of a book's page. Some footnotes cite the authors and titles of the sources the author consulted while researching and writing. The presence of footnotes usually means you're reading an academic or scholarly work of nonfiction. Your history paper might include footnotes on each page, noting the books, journals, and websites you used for your research. Some contemporary novels have footnotes as well, a complex and playful way for the author to insert extra notes and details. The foot of a page is the bottom, which explains the word footnote.
Vocabulary lists containing footnote
Reading: Informational - Middle School
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Selecting and Evaluating Sources and Research Report
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Reading: Informational - High School
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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:
Any doubt about the identity of the unnamed malefactor was dispelled in the first footnote to the statement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
“The Court has doubts that caselaw supports the construction of ‘fugitive’ that Texas is considering,” he wrote in a footnote.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
"So ultimately, this will become a footnote in the history of GTA 6's development."
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
On “Fox News Sunday,” anchor Shannon Bream allocated a mere four seconds to the entire event, treating it as a footnote before moving on to interview a Democratic senator.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
At Harvest Conclave he had been a footnote, if that.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
The combined value of off-balance-sheet, AI-related commitments nine top tech companies reported in footnotes of their most recent securities filings, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
When we tell ourselves stories about warrior elites—and invoke their iconography to inspire and galvanize—we often dismiss and ignore their victims as inconvenient or annoying footnotes.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
Some attendees even paid tribute to one of the most famous footnotes of Obama’s presidency by wearing tan suits, a lighthearted nod to the outfit that once sparked outsized political controversy.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
By the time the SEC had plowed through everything, its rule ran to 300,000 words—that’s the equivalent of “Moby-Dick” plus “The Sun Also Rises”—with well over 3,000 footnotes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Would be nice to have access to the footnotes for everything that didn’t add up.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Upward of $10 million, Martha Ackmann reports in “Ain’t Nobody’s Fool,” a deeply detailed, and footnoted, account of Ms. Parton’s life and career.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
Another was footnoted with the words "official – sensitive" which, according to government guidance, can in some cases mean the information could lead to a "threat to life" if compromised.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2025
Sprigman, whose research into constitutional change is footnoted in the commission's report, argues that the Constitution is ill-equipped to handle many modern public policy questions — including complex healthcare reform.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2024
This is the Fellas … you know what I’m talking about defense, although it is not footnoted as such.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2024
Our world requires that decisions be sourced and footnoted, and if we say how we feel, we must also be prepared to elaborate on why we feel that way.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Most Americans probably have a hard time imagining future historians ever footnoting American democracy with beginning and end dates.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
Constant footnoting is exhausting — a drag on the festivities and also on the drama.
From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2022
In a 37-minute press conference on September 17, 1987 — the third day of the Bork hearings —Biden only copped to an unintentional footnoting gaffe.
From Fox News ● May 2, 2019
Often compared to an electronic version of the footnoting system used by researchers the world over, hypertext underpins the web, enabling you to jump from one source of information to another.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 13, 2018
Often he defers to their words, footnoting his own advice, even though he obviously thought the same things himself.
From "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
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.
