The story
- Old English · derived fromfōtmǣl“a foot-measure, one foot”
- Old English · inherited fromfōtmǣlum“step by step, by degrees”
- Middle English · inherited fromfootmele
- English todayfootmeal
From Middle English footmele, fotmelen, from Old English fōtmǣlum (“step by step, by degrees”), dative plural of Old English fōtmǣl (“a foot-measure, one foot”), equivalent to foot + -meal.
Words from the same roots
Old Englishfōtmǣl all →
fotmal
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.