English

footshock

From foot + shock.

A compound of foot + shock

Proto-Indo-European *pṓds ‘foot’

Proto-Germanic *fōts ‘foot’

Proto-West Germanic *fōt

Old English fōt ‘foot’

Middle English fot ‘foot’

English foot

Proto-Germanic *skukkaną ‘to move, shake, tremble’

Old Dutch *skokkan ‘to shake up and down’

Middle Dutch schokken ‘to push, jolt, shake’

English shock

Today it means

noun A mild electric shock administered to the feet of laboratory animals during a variety of psychological and other experiments

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / footshock