footman
Americannoun
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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:
For BBC’s “Victoria,” Schiller starred as Cornelius Penge, a footman who served the royal family at both Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2024
The footman died in the trenches during World War I, and Lizzie never remarried.
From New York Times ● May 6, 2023
A former royal footman has been recalling his memories of the Queen who he was "in awe of" during his eight years' service to the Royal Family.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2022
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
“I will not forget,” she told him, and then the footman stepped back onto his perch, and the small white carriage rolled away through the crowded courtyard and vanished through the main gates.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
Maybe he would pay the staff more, promote the Black footmen or at least give them some better treatment.
From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2023
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 understand the tribulations of the great British country houses as the country creaked into the twentieth century: thieving footmen, deranged ladies’-maids, and troublesome romances between under-butlers.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 2, 2019
I often see his footmen lounging at the back gate, and the Duke of Wellington’s house is not far off.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
