footmen

Meanings

1. 1nounpluralold-fashioned

   Male servants in a grand household who answered the door, served meals and waited on the family, usually in uniform.

   Grammar: Plural of footman; one servant is a footman.

   Patterns

   • footmen in livery

   Two footmen in white gloves opened the doors of the ballroom.

   The duke employed a dozen footmen to serve dinner.

   The footmen stood silently along the wall during the banquet.

2. 2nounpluralarchaic

   In the past, soldiers who fought on foot rather than on horseback.

   Grammar: Plural of footman; often found in historical writing about armies.

   The knights charged ahead while the footmen followed behind.

   Archers and footmen made up most of the king's army.

   Mounted soldiers were fewer than the footmen in the battle.

Word forms

Common combinations

liveried footmen

Liveried footmen carried trays of champagne.

royal footmen

The royal footmen wore scarlet uniforms.

hire footmen

Wealthy families once hired footmen to impress guests.

footmen and maids

Footmen and maids lived in the attic rooms.

a team of footmen

A team of footmen carried the guests' luggage upstairs.

Synonyms and how they differ

servants

Servants is far broader and covers any household worker, not just the uniformed men who waited at table.

attendants

Attendants is a general word for people who help, without the suggestion of livery or a grand house.

lackeys

Lackeys sounds insulting and suggests people who obey too eagerly, while footmen is a neutral job title.

infantry

Infantry names foot soldiers as a military branch, whereas footmen in this sense is older and more literary.

Opposites

Word family

footman noun

one such servant or foot soldier

foot noun

the body part used for walking

livery noun

the uniform worn by such servants

Commonly confused: footmen or foot soldiers?

Practice

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