Etymology

barefoot

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Today it means: Wearing nothing on the feet. Full definition →

Middle English barefote ← Old English bærfōt ← Proto-West Germanic *baʀafōt
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barefoot · adjective, adverb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*bazafōts“barefoot”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*baʀafōt
  3. Old English · inherited frombærfōt“barefoot”
  4. Middle English · inherited frombarefote
  5. English todaybarefoot

From Middle English barefote, barfot, from Old English bærfōt (“barefoot”), from Proto-West Germanic *baʀafōt, from Proto-Germanic *bazafōts (“barefoot”) equivalent to bare + foot. Cognate with Scots barefit (“barefoot”), Old Frisian berfōt ("barefoot"; modern Saterland Frisian boarfouts (“barefoot”, adverb)), Dutch barrevoets (“barefoot”, adverb), German barfuß (“barefoot”), Danish barfodet (“barefoot”), Swedish barfota (“barefoot”, adverb), Icelandic berfættur (“barefoot”), Yiddish באָרוועס (borves, “barefoot”).

Barefoot · proper noun2

A nickname, from barefoot.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.