feet

Overview

Meaning Now

• plural of foot; the terminal parts of the vertebrate leg, used for standing and walking.
• a unit of length equal to 12 inches (0.3048 meters).

Journey

The word undergoes i-umlaut, a common Germanic sound change where a back vowel in the root changes to a front vowel because of an 'i' or 'j' sound in the following suffix. This process is responsible for many irregular English plurals like 'goose/geese' and 'tooth/teeth'.

Evolution

1. Proto-Indo-European

   *pōdes

   “feet”

   plural nominative

2. Proto-Germanic

   *fōtiz

   “feet”

   i-umlaut trigger

3. Old English

   fēt

   “feet”

   i-mutation of /o:/ to /e:/

4. Middle English

   feet

   “feet”

Connections

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