A compound of foot + wall
Proto-Indo-European *pṓds ‘foot’
Proto-Germanic *fōts ‘foot’
Proto-West Germanic *fōt
Old English fōt ‘foot’
Middle English fot ‘foot’
English foot
Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to turn’
Latin vallum ‘wall’
Proto-West Germanic *wall ‘wall’
Old English weall ‘wall’
Middle English wal
English wall
Today it means
noun The section of rock that extends below a diagonal fault line (the corresponding upper section being the hanging wall).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / footwall
Shirt and support for this word