Meanings
plural ecological footprints
- A measure of how much biologically productive land and water area an individual, population or activity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates using prevailing technology and resource management practices.
Cities are graphically represented as a human foot to make a straightforward connection between the ecological footprint metaphor and the impact of urban life on local and distant environments.
2017, Luca Marazzi, Our Ecological Footprint, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 44
Origin
First used by William E. Rees in 1992 and further refined by Mathis Wackernagel in his PhD thesis.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan petjada ecològica
- petjada ecològicameasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Chinese Mandarin 生態足跡 /生态足迹
- 生態足跡 /生态足迹 (shēngtàizújì)measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Dutch ecologische voetafdruk
- ecologische voetafdrukmeasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Esperanto ekologia premsigno, ekologia piedsigno
- ekologia premsignomeasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
- ekologia piedsignomeasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Finnish ekologinen jalanjälki, ekojalanjälki
- ekologinen jalanjälkimeasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
- ekojalanjälkimeasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
French empreinte écologique
- empreinte écologiquemeasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
German Ökologischer Fußabdruck
- Ökologischer Fußabdruckmeasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Hungarian ökológiai lábnyom
- ökológiai lábnyommeasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Italian impronta ecologica
- impronta ecologicameasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Korean 생태발자국
- 생태발자국 (saengtaebaljaguk)measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Polish ślad ekologiczny
- ślad ekologicznymeasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Portuguese pegada ecológica
- pegada ecológicameasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Russian экологи́ческий след
- экологи́ческий след (ekologíčeskij sled)measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Spanish huella ecológica
- huella ecológicameasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Vietnamese dấu chân sinh thái
- dấu chân sinh tháimeasure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems
Cite this entry
ecological footprint. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ecological%20footprint
“ecological footprint.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ecological%20footprint. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ecological footprint,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ecological%20footprint.
Source: ecological footprint on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.