Foothold

How to spell foothold

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce foothold

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does foothold mean?

1. nounA secure place to stand, or a firm initial position from which further progress can be made.

Foothold in a sentence

• The climber searched the rock face for a reliable foothold.

• The company gained a foothold in the Asian market within a year.

Where does foothold come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English compound, formed simply by joining 'foot' and 'hold', both of which come from Old English. 'Foot' descends from the Old English fot, the same ancient Germanic word that gives German Fuss and Dutch voet, while 'hold' comes from Old English healdan, meaning 'to keep, grasp, or maintain'. The compound emerged in English around the early 1600s, originally describing a literal place secure enough to set a foot while climbing. From that climbing image it quickly broadened into the figurative sense of a secure initial position from which further progress can be made. Because both parts are plain everyday words, the only spelling care it demands is remembering that 'foot' keeps its double o and that the two halves run together without a space or hyphen.

How the word is built

• foot (the body part, used figuratively for a place to stand)
• hold (a grip or support)