footing

Etymology

From Middle English fotyng; equivalent to foot + -ing.

noun

1. A ground for the foot; place for the foot to rest on; firm foundation to stand on.
2. A standing; position; established place; foothold.
   While the California economy maintains its powerhouse status[…] the state’s most-powerful sectors[…]have struggled to keep their footing, pummeled by high interest rates, investor skittishness, labor strife and other turmoil. 2023-04-11, Kurtis Lee, “California Economy Is on Edge After Tech Layoffs and Studio Cutbacks”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
3. A relative condition; state.
4. (dated) A tread; step; especially, a measured tread.
5. (rare) A footprint or footprints; tracks, someone's trail.
6. Stability or balance when standing on one's feet.
   He lost his footing and fell down.
   It was difficult to keep my footing on the ship during the storm.
   Terry lost his footing to allow Van Persie to race clear for Arsenal's fourth after 85 minutes before the Netherlands striker completed a second treble against Chelsea by hammering his third past Petr Cech deep into stoppage time. October 29, 2011, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal”, in BBC Sport
7. The act of adding up a column of figures; the amount or sum total of such a column.
   The auditing of the accounts, when the defendant was present, was nothing more than the examinings of the footings of the bookkeeper. 1866, Francis A. Corliss, Supreme Court, County of New York, page 111
8. The act of putting a foot to anything; also, that which is added as a foot
   the footing of a stocking
9. A narrow cotton lace, without figures.
10. The finer refuse part of whale blubber, not wholly deprived of oil.
11. (architecture, engineering) The thickened or sloping portion of a wall, or of an embankment at its foot; foundation.
12. (accounting) A double-check of the numbers vertically.

verb

1. present participle and gerund of foot