Standard Lemma guide

footbinding

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The old Chinese custom of binding women's feet with cloth to prevent them from growing with age.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, historical, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The material used to bind feet for this reason.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From foot + binding.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Cantonese: 紮腳 /扎脚 (zaat3 goek3) — binding of women's feet
  • Chinese Cantonese: 纏腳 /缠脚 (zin6 goek3) — binding of women's feet
  • Chinese: 縛跤 /缚跤 (pa̍k-kha) — binding of women's feet
  • Chinese Mandarin: 裹腳 /裹脚 (guǒjiǎo) — binding of women's feet
  • Chinese Mandarin: 纏足 /缠足 (chánzú) — binding of women's feet
  • Chinese Mandarin: 纏腳 /缠脚 (chánjiǎo) — binding of women's feet
  • Finnish: jalkojen sitominen — binding of women's feet
  • French: pieds bandés — binding of women's feet
  • German: Füßebinden — binding of women's feet
  • Japanese: 纏足 (tensoku) — binding of women's feet
  • Korean: 전족 (jeonjok) — binding of women's feet
  • Russian: бинтова́ние ног (bintovánije nog) — binding of women's feet
  • Spanish: vendado de pies — binding of women's feet
  • Spanish: vendado podal — binding of women's feet