An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Fuß

by Friedrich Kluge

Fuß, m., ‘foot, base, pedestal, footing,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vuoȥ, OHG. fuoȥ, m., ‘foot’; a common Teut. and more remotely a common Aryan term for ‘foot’; comp. Goth. fôtus, OIc. fótr, AS. fôt, E. foot, Du. voet, OSax. fôt. The Teut. fôt- (weak subst.), from Aryan pôd-, which interchanged with Aryan pŏd- and pĕd in declension. Comp. Gr. ποδ- in πόδα, nom. sing. πούς (Æol. πώς); Lat. pĕd-em, nom. sing. pes; πέδιλον, ‘sandal,’ πεζός (for πεδjός), ‘on foot’; o gradation in Lat. tripudium; OInd. nom. sing. pâd (locat. padí), ‘foot,’ padá, neu., ‘tread, footstep.’ The e gradation is preserved in Teut. by OIc. fet, n., ‘step,’ but as a measure ‘foot’ (Lith. pėdà, ‘mark of the foot’); akin to OIc. feta, ‘to find the way,’ OHG. fëȥȥan, ‘to go.’ Respecting OIc. fjǫturr see Fessel; OIc. fit, f., ‘the skin of birds between the claws.’ MidE. fetlak, E. fetlock; thus too MidHG. viȥȥeloch, ‘hough,’ earlier ModHG. Fitzloch; they are derivatives (not compounds) of *fet-, ‘foot.’ —