The word foot has been recorded as far back in the English language as the early ninth century, from where it has since developed dozens of different meanings and senses and can now be used as a noun, a verb and, much less frequently, as an adjective meaning ‘lowly’ or ‘mundane’. As the name of a unit of measurement, foot dates from the eleventh century and was so named as it roughly corresponded to the length of a man’s foot. The first reference to the foot of a bed dates from the early fourteenth century and to the foot of a page from the mid-1600s, whilst football was first mentioned in English in the Football Act of 1424, passed by King James I of Scotland, which banned the game and made playing it punishable by a fine of four pence. Although the act eventually fell out of use, it officially remained in operation until it was finally repealed in 1906.
Meaning to ‘advance’ or ‘accelerate the progress of’, particularly by removing obstacles or other difficulties, the word expedite dates from the early seventeenth century in English, and is derived directly from the Latin verb expedire, which variously meant ‘to set right’, or ‘to procure or obtain’. In turn, this original Latin form comprises the prefix ex-, meaning ‘out’ or ‘from’, and the Latin word for ‘foot’, pes or pedis, and so literally means to ‘unfetter the feet’, and hence to ‘free from restraints’. The opposite word, incidentally, was the Latin verb impedire, from which English has since derived the word impede.
It is a misconception that the word octopus means either ‘eight-legged’ or ‘eight-armed’, as in fact the suffix -pus is derived from the Ancient Greek word for ‘foot’, pous, meaning that the octopus is actually an ‘eight-footed’ creature. The platypus, meanwhile, is a ‘flat-footed’ creature and takes the first part of its name from the Greek platys, meaning ‘flat’ or ‘broad’. It is also a misconception that the correct plural of words like octopus and platypus should be octopi and platypi, as this would only be true if they were of Latin origin – as Greek names their correct plural forms should in fact be octopodes and platypodes.
In archaeology, an oppidum is a large and often heavily defended Iron Age settlement, of a type that emerged across Western Europe in the second and first centuries BC. Typically, oppida were positioned on areas of high flat ground, were often walled or fortified for protection and served as the largest settlement or stronghold for much of the surrounding area. The word itself first appeared in English in late nineteenth century, but it was originally a Roman name for any similarly defended town or castle. Indeed, it is often claimed that Julius Caesar was the first to apply the name oppidum to the fortified settlements he encountered across Europe during his conquest of Gaul in the first century BC, which still bear the name today. Although the origin of the word is unclear, it seems likely that it is in some way related to the Latin word for ‘foot’, pes, perhaps via some earlier word meaning ‘footprint’, in the sense of a flattened and enclosed area of land.
The word pedigree dates from the mid-fifteenth century in English when it originally referred to a family tree or similar genealogical diagram drawn to depict the lineage of a person or dynasty. It was not until the mid-1800s that it came to be used as an adjective describing a pure-bred creature, and it was as recently as the 1950s that this adjective came again to be used as a noun as another name for a thoroughbred animal with documented ancestry. The word pedigree itself is of French origin, and is formed from a contraction of the Anglo-Norman phrase pé de grue, literally meaning ‘stork’s foot’, as the narrow, elongated claws of the stork were said to resemble the thin lines drawn on a family tree to connect relatives and generations to one another.
In English, the word pessimism was first used in the late eighteenth century to describe a state of absolute decay, or else something of the worst possible quality or condition. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that this meaning was adapted to refer to a gloomy, negative worldview or to a tendency to focus on the worst aspect of any given thing. The word itself is derived from the Latin adjective pessimus, meaning ‘worst’ or ‘bottommost’ – pessimum, the rarely used opposite of the more familiar optimum, is of similar origin. Pessimus is in turn believed to be a derivative of the same ancient root as the Latin word for ‘foot’, pes, in the sense that the feet are the lowest or bottommost part of the body.
Piedmont is a compound of the Italian words for ‘foot’, piede, and ‘mountain’, monte. It is probably most familiar to English speakers as a place name notably borne by the Piedmont region of north-eastern Italy located, appropriately enough, at the foot of the Swiss Alps. In more general use, however, the word has been applied since the mid-nineteenth century to any expanse of land situated at the foot of a mountain or mountain range, and in North America is often used to refer to the vast fertile plateau located on the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains, which stretches from New Jersey to Alabama.
The word podium is derived at length from the Greek word for the base of a vase, podion, which is itself based on the Greek for ‘foot’, pous. In English, the term dates back to the late seventeenth century when it was originally used in architectural contexts to refer to a kind of raised platform encircling a Roman arena, and it was not until the late eighteenth century that it came to be used for a base or plinth upon which something is stood. The more modern use of podium as another name for a raised dais or lectern at the front of an auditorium dates from 1899, while the first reference to a winner’s podium was recorded in an American newspaper in 1948.
Dating from the early 1400s in English, the word polyp was first used to refer to a tumour or lump located specifically in the nasal passages, before later being used for any similar growth found elsewhere in the body. It is a shortening of the Latin equivalent term polypus, which as well as being used for a bodily growth was oddly also the name of a type of octopus or cuttlefish: the word literally means ‘many-footed’ and is ultimately derived from the Ancient Greek prefix poly-, meaning ‘many’ or ‘more than one’, and pous, meaning ‘foot’.
The adjective sesquipedalian appropriately means ‘pertaining to or given to using long words’. It dates from the early seventeenth century in English, and is a Latin loanword adopted directly into the language from a famous quotation from Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry), a first-century BC essay by the Roman poet Horace in which he derides the use of extremely long words, or what he terms ‘sesquipedalia verba’. The word sesquipedalian itself is formed from the Latin prefix sesqui-, typically used in reference to quantities and measurements to mean ‘half as much again’ or ‘one-and-a-half times’, and the Latin word pes, meaning ‘foot’ – the term literally refers to words that are ‘a foot and a half’ in length.
Meaning to ‘replace’ or ‘usurp’, the verb supplant dates from the fourteenth century, when it was used more specifically to refer to a dispossession or overthrow, particularly one made through violent or dishonourable means. It is derived from the Latin verb supplantare, meaning literally ‘to trip’ or ‘to stumble’, which is itself formed from a compound of sub, meaning ‘under’, and planta, ‘the sole of the foot’. Of similar origin is the zoological term plantigrade, used to describe creatures like bears, mice, rabbits and humans that walk on the soles of their feet.