Standard Lemma guide

footnote

noun · verb · 6 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.

  • UK: /ˈfʊtˌnəʊt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈfʊtˌnoʊt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F UH1 T N OW2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A short piece of text, often numbered, placed at the bottom of a printed page, that adds a comment, citation, reference etc, to a designated part of the main text.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • consult the footnotes for more details

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An event of lesser importance than some larger event to which it is related.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Examples

  • a mere footnote in history

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: asterisk

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A qualification to the import of something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To add footnotes to a text.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: annotate

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a printed note placed below the text on a printed page

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: footer

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: note, annotation, notation

6

verb

Meaning 6

add explanatory notes to or supply with critical comments

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The scholar annotated the early edition of a famous novel

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: annotate

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: write, compose, pen, indite

History

Etymology

From foot + note.

Across languages

Translations

51 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: ծանոթագրություն (canotʻagrutʻyun) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Chinese Mandarin: 腳註 /脚注 or 腳注 /脚注 (jiǎozhù) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Chinese Mandarin: 註腳 /注脚 (zhùjiǎo) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Czech: poznámka pod čarou — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Danish: fodnote — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Dutch: voetnoot — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Esperanto: piednoto — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Estonian: allmärkus — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Finnish: alaviite — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • French: note en bas de page — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • French: note de bas de page — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • German: Fußnote — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Greek: υποσημείωση (yposimeíosi) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Gujarati: પાદટીપ (pādṭīp) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Hungarian: lábjegyzet — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Indonesian: catatan kaki — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Irish: fonóta — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Japanese: 脚注 (kyakuchū) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Japanese: 脚註 (kyakuchū) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Korean: 각주 (gakju) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Macedonian: подножна белешка (podnožna beleška) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Macedonian: фуснота (fusnota) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Malay: nota kaki — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Manx: fo-note — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Manx: fo-screeuyn — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Māori: kupu tāpiri — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Māori: kupu āpiti — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Māori: kīwae — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fotnote — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fotnote — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Polish: przypis — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Portuguese: nota de rodapé — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Punjabi: ਪਗ ਟਿੱਪਣੀ (pag ṭippaṇī) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Russian: сно́ска (snóska) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Russian: примеча́ние (primečánije) — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Scottish Gaelic: eàrr-nota — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Spanish: nota — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Spanish: nota a pie de página — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Swedish: fotnot — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Tagalog: talababa — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Turkish: dipnot — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Turkish: haşiye — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Welsh: troednodyn — comment at the bottom of a printed page
  • Chinese Mandarin: 註腳 /注脚 (zhùjiǎo) — event of lesser importance
  • Finnish: alaviite — event of lesser importance
  • German: Fußnote — event of lesser importance
  • Greek: υποσημείωση (yposimeíosi) — event of lesser importance
  • Hungarian: lábjegyzet — event of lesser importance
  • Hungarian: mellékes megjegyzés — event of lesser importance
  • Korean: 부차적인 존재 (buchajeogin jonjae) — event of lesser importance
  • Polish: przypis — event of lesser importance